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AMERICAN 

PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

HISTORY  AND  PEDAGOGICS 


BY 

JOHN  SWETT 

Author  of  "  History  of  the  Public  School  System  of  California"  "  Methods  of  Teaching,' 

''Normal  Word  Book"  and  "  School  Elocution  ;  "  and  Collaborator  in 

the  Authorship  ofSwinton's  Language  Series,  Word  Book 

Series,  and  Geography  Series. 


NEW  YORK  •:•.  CINCINNATI  •:    CHICAGO 
AMERICAN  BOOK  COMPANY 


y^-^ 


Copyright,  1900, 
By    JOHN    SWETT. 

Am.  Pub.  Sch. 


PREFACE 

This  book  is  intended  mainly  for  the  great  body  of 
American  public  school  teachers,  and,  incidentally,  for  li- 
brary use  in  normal  schools  or  in  normal  departments  of 
other  institutions  of  learning,  both  public  and  private. 

The  prominence  now  given  to  American  educational 
history  by  the  pedagogical  departments  of  universities 
has  led  to  a  similar  line  of  study  in  many  state  normal 
schools.  Furthermore,  these  historical  studies  have  been 
emphasized  during  the  past  decade  by  a  long  series  of  able 
and  exhaustive  papers  on  the  history  of  our  public  school 
system,  published  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  United 
States  Commissioner  of  Education,  and  in  special  Bulle- 
tins of  Information. 

But  these  reports,  rich  in  historical  treasures,  reach 
only  a  small  number  of  the  five  hundred  thousand  teach- 
ers in  our  country,  and  are  not  available  for  practical  pur- 
poses in  large  classes  of  normal  students.  There  seems 
to  be  room  for  a  hand-book  containing  a  series  of  studies 
on  the  vital  points  of  public  school  history  ;  and  also  an 
outline  of  the  psychological  and  pedagogical  methods  of 
instruction  and  management  in  American  public  schools. 
A  knowledge  of  the  history  of  public  education  in  our 
own  country  is  fast  becoming  an  indispensable  part  of 

3 

86005 


4  PREFACE 

the  educational  equipment  of  every  American  teacher ; 
and  it  is  to  help  along  this  new  movement  that  the  First 
Part  of  this  book  has  been  written. 

The  Second  Part  relates  to  applied  pedagogics  in  the 
common  schools,  and  treats  specifically  of  modern  courses 
of  study  in  primary  and  grammar  grades  ;  of  school  man- 
agement ;  of  professional  reading  and  study  for  teachers ; 
and  of  common-sense  applied  to  rural  schools.  In  this 
part,  as  in  the  historical  part,  the  author  has  made  free 
use  of  quotations  from  the  latest  writings  of  American 
educational  leaders  in  order  to  show  the  drift  of  modern 
pedagogical  and  psychological  thought. 

JOHN  SWETT. 
San  Francisco,  1899. 


CONTENTS 


Part  I.    History  of  American  Public  Schools. 

CHAP,  PAGE 

I.  Colonial  Schools 7 

II.  Early  American  Schools 34 

III.  Secondary  and  Higher  Public  Education     .         .         .         .73 

IV.  Public  Schools  after  the  Civil  War 93 

.V.  Common-School  Courses  of  Study XX8 

VI.  Studies  on  Common-School  Text-Books  ,         .         .         .130 

VII.  Educational  Outlook  for  the  Twentieth  Century.         .  164 


Part  II.    Applied  Pedagogics  in  American  Public  Schools. 

I.  Management  in  School  Government 173 

II.  Suggestions  on  Class-Room  Management        .         .         .179 

III.  Recitations  and  the  Art  of  Using  Text-Books     .         .         .188 

IV.  Professional  Reading  and  Study 199 

V.  Pedagogics  Applied    to  Reading,   Writing,   Spelling,    and 

Drawing,  in  Modern  Graded  Schools    ....  206 
VI.  The  Art  of  Teaching  Language  Lessons  and  Grammar  .       230 
VII.  Pedagogical  Principles  applied  to  Arithmetic      .         .         .  240 
5 


6  CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

VIII.  Psychological  Principles  in  Teaching  Elementary  History  .  259 

IX.  Natural  Methods  in  Teaching  Geography        .         ...       269 

X,  The  Natural  Method  in  Nature  Studies       .         .         .         .278 

XI.  Modern  Views  on  Physical  Culture 286 

XII.  Modern  Training  in  Morals  and  Manners  ....  292 

XIII.  Common-Sense  Applied  to  Rural  Schools        .        .        .       303 


TJNITERSITY 

PART  I 

HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


CHAPTER  I 
COLONIAL    SCHOOLS 

For  typical  studies  we  may  begin  with  the  four  chief 
centers  of  early  settlements  in  our  country  :  New  England, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia. 

The  Colonists  atjPlymouth  did  not  open^  public  school 


until  fifty  years  after  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  set  foot  on 
Plymouth  Rock.  But  the  little  band  of  one  hundred  and 
two  men,  women,  and  children  that  came  over  in  the 
Mayflower,  at  once  organized  a  civil  government,  and 
immediately  set  about  paying  off  their  indebtedness  to 
the  Plymouth  Company  by  making  shipments  of  fish, 
furs,  and  lumber.  In  thirteen  years  the  freemen  of  this 
small  settlement  owned  their  homesteads  free  from  debt. 
For  half  a  century  t^e  few  childrenjn  this  colony  of  slow 
growth  were  taught  at  home  or  in  dame_sclmQls_to_read 
th£catechisiTL^nd_jhe_BlW.^ ;  for  so  much  instruction  the 
Pilgrims  held  to  be  a  religious  duty.  In  due  time,  when 
children  had  increased  in  numbers,  the  freeholders  of  the 
town  of  Plymouth  set  up  a  "  Latin  Grammar  Schpol  "  of 
the_EngHsh_type(i67o)  ;  and  three  years  lat_£r  (167^)  they 
established,  after  the  manner  of  the  Netherlands,  where 
the  Pilgrims  had  sojourned  for  a  time,  a  public  school  for 
teaching   the  children   to  read   and  write  their   mother 


8  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

tongue.      For   the   public    support  of  this    school  they- 
applied  the  profits  of  the  Cape  Cod  fisheries. 

T^fTPiiritans  who  9,^\\ei\  around  Massachusetts  Bay 
in  1630  were  stronger  in  numbers  and  richer  in  means 
than  the  Plymouth  Pilgrims.  It  is  estimated  that  at  least 
20,000  emigrants  came  over  from  England  during  the 
period  of  rapid  settlement  -from  1630  to  1650.  The 
J^nQtnn  T  atjn  Scho'^l  ( l^i5~3^)  appears  to  have  been  the 
first    public    school    opened    in    New   England.      It  was 

started  by  subscriptions,  was  supported  in  the  beginning 
partly  by  town  appropriations;  afterwards  entirely  by  tTi  e 
town.  Sir  Henry  Vane  headed  the  list  of  subscribers 
with  a  gift  of  ten  pounds  sterling. 

"  There  is  no  notice  of  a  school  among  the  regular 
entries  of  Boston  records  until  1642,"  says  Felt's  "Annals 
of  Salem,"  "  but  on  the  last  leaf  of  the  first  volume  is  a 
list,  dated  1636,  of  subscribers  and  their  donations  towards 
a  school  of  this  kind."  This  Latin  School  was  e;cclusively 
designed  to  fit  boys  forcolle^.  It  was  the  only  public 
school  in  Boston  for  a  period  of  more  than  thirty 
years.  Harvard  College  was  founded  (1637-38)  for  the 
chief  purpose  of  training  up  an  educated  ministry.  One 
year  later  (1639),  a  printing  press  was  set  up  at  Cam- 
bridge. 

Other  towns  in  New  England  followed  the  example 
of  Boston  and  established  ''  Grammar  Schools,"   chiefly 
designed  to  teach  Latin  grammar,  but   incidentally  in::, 
eluding  a  little  instruction  in  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 

Inetter  irr^rder  of  time  these  schools  were  set  up  as 
follows:  Charlestown  (1636);  Dorchester  and  Newbury 
(1639);  Salem  (1641);  New  Haven  (1639-41);  Hartford 
(1642);  Newport,  R.  I.  (1640);  Dedham  (1651);  Ipswich 
(1642)  ;  Plymouth  (1670). 


COLONIAL   SCHOOLS  g 

These  grammar  schools  were  supported  in  part  by 
tuition  fees  and  in  part  by  town  appropriations.  Occa- 
sionally they  received  small  grants  of  land  or  individual 
bequests.  They  were  public  schools  entirely  under  control 
of  the  civil  government^_thouglijt^^ 
affiliations.  They  were  designed  to  fit  boys  for  college. 
The  girls  of  this  period  either  attended  private  schools  or 
grew  up  without  schooling.  As  the  settlers  were  trans- 
planted Englishmen,  their  schools,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
were  modeled  upon  the  plan  of  the  eighteen  Latin  grammar 
schools  founded  in  England  during  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI.  It  was  not  until  two  centuries  after  the  settlement! 
of  New  England  that  OldEngland  took  any  measures  for.' 
providing  for  theelementary  instruction  of  the  children 
of_The~comrnorrpeople,  other  than  in  charity  schools  in 
connection  with  the  established  church.  Consequently 
the  rnjrmjqfq  dif]  not  inhf^Ht  th<^  ''  c^^roQipn-school  idea" 
from  England. 

The  legal  conditions  of  admission  to  all  these  primitive 
grammar  schools  read  as  follows  :  *'  No  youth  shall  be 
sent  to  the  grammar  schools  unless  they  shall  have  learned 
in  some  other  way  to  read  the  English  language  by  spell- 
ing the  same."  Consequently,  for  many  years,  children 
were  taught  to  read  at  home,  or  in  private  schools,  or 
dame  schools,  or  were  allowed  to  grow  up  illiterate.  In 
due  course  of  tirne  most  of  these  early  graiiimaT^schools 
'became  free  public_schools^supported_by  taxation, jjid.XSP 
yearsTater,  girls  gained  admission  to  them.  Cotton  Mather 
in  his  "  MagnaiiaTsays  :  *'  When  scholars  had  so  far 
profited  at  the  grammar  schools  that  they  could  read  any 
classical  author  into  English  and  readily  make  and  speak 
true  Latin,  and  write  it  in  verse  as  well  as  in  prose,  and 
perfectly  decline  the  paradigms  of  nouns  and  verbs  in  the 


lO         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Greek  tongue,  they  were  judged  capable  of  admission  to 
Harvard  College." 

RECORDS   OF   GRAMMAR   SCHOOLS. 

The  student  of  educational  history  must  not  be  misled 
by  the  colonial  use  of  the  terms,  "  free  school,"  *'  Latin 
school,"  "  grammar  school,"  and  "  public  school."  They 
were  all  used,  at  times,  to  designate  public  schools  sup- 
ported_iii_part  by  tuition  fees,  and  were  also  applied  to 
schools  under,  rh  11  rrh  cnntrol..  It  is  claimed,  for  instance, 
that  the  first  "  free  school  "  in  America  was  established  in 
1621,  by  the  Rev.  Patrick  Copeland,  in  Charles  City,  Vir- 
ginia. This  was  evidently  a  parish  school,  supported  by 
subscriptions. 

•  Town  of  Dedham.  —  It  was  ordered  in  town  meeting 
(165 1)  ''that  all  such  inhabitants  in  our  town  as  have  male 
children  or  servants  in  their  families  shall  for  each  pay  to 
the  schoolmaster  for  the  time  being  the  sum  of  five  shil- 
lings per  annum ;  and  (2)  that  whatever  these  sums  shall 
fall  short  of  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  shall  be  raised  by 
by  way  of  rateing  upon  estates  according  to  the  usual 
manner." 

The  Dorchester  School.  —  The  history  of  the  town  of 
Dorchester  (now  a  part  of  the  city  of  Boston)  is  of  special 
interest,  as  it  contains  a  record  of  one  of  the  earliest  of 
town  meetings  in  New  England. 

Town  Records. — "  Monday,  Oct.  8,  1633.  Imprimis.  It  is  ordered 
that  for  the  general  good  and  well  ordering  of  the  affairs  of  the  planta- 
tion, there  shall  be  every  Monday  before  the  Court,  by  8  o'clock  A.  M., 
and  presently  by  the  beating  of  the  drum,  a  general  meeting  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  plantation  at  the  meeting-house,  there  to  settle  and  set 
down  such  orders  as  may  tend  to  the  general  good  aforesaid,  and  every 
man  to  be  bound  thereby,  without  gainsaying  or  resistance." 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  II 

Other  towns  followed  this  example,  and  in  1636,  three 
years  later,  the  General  Court  of  the  Bay  Colony  passed 
an  act  regulating  town  government  and  establishing  the 
town  meeting  as  an  institution  of  local  civil  government. 
The  town  meeting  laid  the  foundation  for  the  town 
school. 

In  1635  the  General  Court  of  the  Bay  Colony  granted 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Dorchester  certain  lands  on  "  Thomp- 
son's Island,"  and  in  1639  the  town  meeting  voted  to  levy 
a  tax  on  the  proprietors  of  said  island  for  "  the  main- 
tenance of  a  school  in  Dorchester."  This  was  a  grammar 
school  for  boys,  and  was  supported  in  part  by  tuition  fees. 
So  far  as  public  records  show,  this  seems  to  have  been 
the  first  direct  tax  voted  in  New  England  for  the  partial 
support  of  a  public  school. 

School  Committee.— In  1645  the  Dorchester  town 
meeting  elected  a  special  school  committee  of  three, 
termed  "  wardens  or  overseers  of  the  schools,"  and  adopted 
"  rules  and  orders  concerning  the  school,"  in  part,  as 
follows : 

"  2ly.  That  from  the  beginning  of  the  first  moneth  until!  the  end  of 
the  7th,  hee  shall  every  day  begin  to  teach  at  seaven  of  the  Clock  in  the 
morning  and  dismisse  his  schollers  at  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  for 
the  other  five  months  he  shall  every  day  begin  at  8  of  the  Clock  in  the 
morning  and  end  at  4  in  the  afternoon." 

"  5ly.  Hee  shall  equally  and  impartially  receiue  and  instruct  such 
as  shalbe  sent  and  Committed  to  him  for  that  end,  whither  there 
parents  bee  poore  or  rich,  not  refusing  any  who  have  Right  &  In- 
terest in  the  Schools." 

"  61y.  Such  as  shall  be  Committed  to  him  he  shall  diligently  instruct, 
as  they  shalbe  able  to  learne,  both  in  humane  learning  and  good 
literature,  &  likewyse  in  Poynt  of  good  manners  and  dutifull  behauior 
towards  all,  specially  there  superiors  as  they  shall  haue  occasion  to 
bee  in  there  presence,  whither  by  meeting  them  in  the  streete  or 
otherwyse." 


12         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

"  y\y.  Euery  6  day  in  thq  weeke  at  2  of  the  Clock  in  the  after  noone, 
bee  shall  Catechise  his  Schollers  in  the  principles  of  Christian  religion, 
either  in  some  Catechism  wch  the  Wardens  shall  provide  and  present, 
or  in  defect  thereof  in  some  other." 

*  Schools  in  Boston.— In  1682,  half  a  century  after  the 
settlement  of  the  town,  it  was  ordered  in  town  meeting : 
"  That  a  committee  with  the  selectmen  consider  and  pro- 
vide for  the  teaching  of  children  to  write  and  cipher 
within  this  town."  Accordingly,  grammar  schools  were 
soon  opened,  with  one  department  for  teaching  '*  writing 
and  ciphering,"  and  another  department  for  teaching 
"  reading  and  spelling."  These  unique  schools,  English 
in  type,  are  explained  by  George  H.  Martin  in  his  "  Evo- 
lution of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  System,"  as 
follows  :  '^  These  grammar  schools  were  double-headed  af- 
fairs, divided  into  a  writing  department  and  a  reading  de- 
partment, and  with  a  master  and  an  assistant,  the  two 
masters  having  original  and  concurrent  jurisdiction  over 
the  pupils.  In  the  writing  schools,  arithmetic  and  pen- 
manship were  taught  to  all,  while  algebra,  geometry, 
and  bookkeeping  were  optional.  In  the  reading  schools, 
reading  and  spelling,  with  definitions,  grammar,  and 
geography  were  required  studies,  with  history,  astron- 
omy, and  natural  philosophy  optional.  The  pupils  spent 
the  morning  in  one  school  and  the  afternoon  in  the 
other." 

These  grammar  schools  of  1682,  however,  were  open  to 
boys  only.  It  was  not  until  1789,  a  century  later,  that 
girls  were  allowed  to  enter  them,  and  then  only  from 
April  to  October  in  each  year,  and  only  at  hours  when  the 
boys  were  not  in  attendance.' 

It  was  not  until  181 8  that  Boston  opened  primary 
schools  for  teaching  both  boys-and  girls  to  read  and  write 


I  a 

COLONIAL  SCNOlS^^  ■^jT    n 

the  English  language.  The  town  of  Northampton  voted> 
in  1792  to  admit  girls  into  the  grammar  schools  from  May 
1st  to  October  31st. 

In  this  connection  it  is  worth  noting  that  in  1696  the 
Scottish  Parliament  enacted  a  law  which  established  a 
school  in  every  parish  and  provided  for  its  support  partly 
by  parish  tax  and  partly  by  rate  bills.  The  way  had  been 
opened  for  this  law  by  the  work  of  John  Knox,  more 
than  a  century  before,  in  establishing  parish  schools  in 
connection  with  the  Scotch  Kirk. 

Town  of  Salem. — This  town,  one  of  the  first  settlements 
in  the  Bay  Colony  (1629),  ranked  for  a  long  period  next 
to  Boston  in  wealth  and  commerce.     It  held  to  Eng-lish 

o 

customs  and  educational  ideas  with  peculiar  tenacity.  It 
established  a  British  "Latin  grammar  school"  in  1641  ; 
but  made  no  public  provision  for  teaching  girls  to  read 
and  write  the  English  language  until  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  later,  and  did  not  place  girls  on  an  equal  footing 
with  boys  until  1812,  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  years 
after  the  first  Latin  school  was  founded.  It  is  historically 
interesting  as  the  center  of  the  witchcraft  delusion  in  New 
England.  Its  school  records,  complete  from  the  begin- 
ning, afford  the  pedagogical  student  a  striking  illustration 
of  the  slow  evolution  of  the  common  school  idea.  These 
town  records  are  made  available  by  Felt's  "  Annals  of 
Salem"  (1845).  I"  the  first  volume  of  this  book  there  are 
eighty  pages  of  pubHc  school  history,  made  up  largely  of 
quotations  from  town  records.'  The  following  extracts 
mark  a  few  of  the  successive  stages  of  school  development. 

Records.-  "  164.1,  March  30.  Col.  Endecot  moved  about  the  ffences 
and  about  a  ffree  skoole  and  therefore  wished  a  whole  towne  meeting 
about  it ;  therefore,  that  Goodman  Auger  warne  a  towne  meeting  the 


14         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

second  day  of  the  weeke."  The  town  meeting  estabUshed  a  Latin 
Grammar  School  (1641)  in  accordance  with  the  call. 

1644.  "  Ordered  that  if  any  poore  body  hath  children  or  a  child  to 
be  put  to  school  and  not  able  to  pay  for  their  schooling,  that  the 
towne  will  pay  for  it  by  rate."  This  "  free  skoole  "  was  a  Latin 
grammar  school,  free  only  to  those  too  poor  to  pay  for  instruction. 
"  Such  was  the  practice  to  a  limited  degree  in  the  metropolis  "  (Boston), 
says  the  historian  of  Salem,  "  and,  to  a  considerable  degree,  in  other 
places  of  the  Commonwealth.  This  continued,  more  or  less  so,  among 
our  population  till  1768." 

1657.  "  A  bill  came  to  hand  to  make  a  rate  for  the  Coledge  [Har\^ard] 
;^5  6s." 

1680,  Apr.  5.  "Concerning  the  Colledge  money.  For  building : 
amount  raised  by  subscription  ;^i 30-2-3." 

1 716.  "John  Swinnerton  began,  25th  ult.  to  keep  the  English 
school  by  the  town  house."  [First  mention  of  an  English  grammar 
school]. 

1733,  Jan.  4.  "  The  Grammar  School  had  36,  and  the  English 
school  30  scholars." 

1743,  May  II.  "Voted  that  the  Latin  and  English  schools  be  united 
under  a  master  and  usher.  Each  Latin  scholar  paid  5s  a  quarter, 
and  each  English  scholar  2s.  6d.  a  quarter." 

1764,  May  16.  Order  for  £10,  "to  pay  for  learning  the  poorest 
children  to  read  at  women's  schools  "  [dame  schools]. 

1767,  March  9.  Committee  of  the  English  school  are  empowered  to 
spend  the  same  sum  for  a  hke  purpose. 

1793,  March  11.  School  committee  authorized  to  provide  for  the 
tuition  of  girls  in  writing  schools  or  elsewhere,  "  in  reading,  writing, 
and  ciphering." 

1796,  July  19.  Statement  that  schools  for  young  girls  had  been 
opened.     [Primary  schools.] 

1801,  April  13.  "Notice  is  published,  that  writing,  arithmetic, 
English  grammar,  composition,  and  geography  are  to  be  taught  in  the 
grammar  school,  besides  Latin  and  Greek." 

1 801,  May  2.  Notice  is  published  that  three  public  schools  for 
children  of  both  sexes,  and  not  less  than  five  years  old,  are  opened. 
[Primary  schools.] 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  1 5 

RURAL  "  COMMON  SCHOOLS  "  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

It  was  outside^gLBoston  and  its  surrounding  group  of 
''  grammar  school  "  towns,  in  the  outlying  rural  settle^. 
jTients__of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and__New  Hamp- 
shire,  that  conditions  were  most  favorable  to  the  devej^p- 
ment  of  the  colonial  "  common  school/*  These  pioneer 
settlers  were  a  homogeneous  people  from  the  Puritan 
counties  of  England.  They  had  no  paternal  government 
and  no  chartered  companies  to  care  for  them ;  but  they 
were  well  fitted  to  look  out  for  themselves.  The  earnest- 
ness of  their  religious  convictions  held  them  up  to  high 
standards.  They  had  no  bitter  contentions  arising  from 
differences  in  race,  language,  or  religion  ;  consequently, 
it  was  possible  for  them  to  act  together  in  establishing 
town  government  and  common  schools.  Like  the  Pil- 
grims, they  were  determined  that  their  children  should  be 
able  to  read  the  Bible,  the  catechism,  and  the  laws. 

Driven  by  the  "  land  hunger  "  characteristic  of  English 
pioneers,  small  groups  of  settlers  pushed  out  into  the 
forest  wilderness  of  New  England,  and,  in  the  face  of 
Indians,  secured  home-farms,  erected  meeting-houses,  and 
built  schoolhouses.  Presently  the  people,  assemble^^hx 
town  meeting,  elected  a  teacher,  and  starte^Pa^^€£5oL  sup- 
ported in  part  from  a  scanty  town  treasury  and  in  part 
eked  out  by  voluntary^^ubscriptions  or  tuition  fees.  The 
children  were  instructed  in  reading,  spelling,  writjag, 
arithmetic,  and  good  manners.  The  school  was  open  to 
boys  and  girls  on  equal  terms.  The  co-education  of  the 
sexes  was  not_a^theory  ;  it  was  a  condition  of  necessity. 
Pupils  entered  school  at  five  years  of  age,  and.  were  allowed 
to  attend  up  to  the  age  of  twenty-one.  In  these  rural 
schools  the  main  purpose  was  to  teach  the   English  Ian- 


l6         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

guage,  not  the  Latin.  Rude  and  primitive  schools  they 
were,  as  befitted  the  pioneer  conditions  of  a  people  fight- 
ing for  survival  among  Indians,  and  wringing  a  scanty 
subsistence  from  a  stubborn  soil  under  a  harsh  sky. 

These  schools  have  an  accurately  recorded  history  writ- 
ten in  town  records  of  civil  government.  They  were 
organized  directly  by  the  common  people_for  the  free  pub- 
lic  education  of  all  children,  without  distinction  of  class, 
or  caste,  or  sex.  Of  free  cTiarity  schools  for  teaching  the 
children  of  the  poor,  the  history  of  the  world  is  full.  Of 
schools  established  for  the  higher  classes  by  centralized 
paternal  governments,  there  are  numerous  examples.  But 
these  rural  schools  were  not  copies  of  European  schools. 
They  were  planned  neither  by  educational  theorists  nor 
by  speculative  metaphysicians.  Plato  had  taught,  cen- 
turies ago,  that  in  a  commonwealth  the  working  classes 
had  no  need  of  any  education  whatever.  These  Puritan 
farmers  and  mechanics  had  never  read  Plato  in  the  origi- 
nal Greek  ;  but  they  had  faith  in  God  and  themselves,  and 
guided  by  hard  common-sense,  they  saw  to  it  that  their 
children  learned  to  read  and  write  their  mother  tongue, 
and  to  cipher.  Their  schools  were  rightly  named  ''  com- 
mon schools,"  because  they  brought  together  all  the  chil- 
dren of  each  little  democratic  community,  on  one  common 
level  of  equal  legal  rights  to  an  elementary  education  in 
the  English  language. 

Many  favorable  conditions  were  combined  to  lead  up 
to  the  organization  of  these  schools.  For  defense  against 
attacks  of  Indians  the  early  settlers  were  grouped  in  vil- 
lages surrounded  by  stockades.  There  was  no  established 
Church  of  England  to  monopolize  education.  EaclLiittle 
Congregationalist  church  was  an  independent^ganizatiisn. 
governed  by  its  own  members.     For  more  than  a  century 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  1 7 

the  ministers  as  well_  as_the_jtearh  ers  i  n  -xuraLjto  wnswere 
elected  in  town  meeting.  Consequently  the  ministers 
were  strong  in  their  support  of  free  schools. 

"  These  were  the  first  lawgivers,"  said  James  Russell  Lowell,  "who 
saw  clearly  and  enforced  practically,  the  simple,  moral,  and  political 
truth,  that  knowledge  was  not  an  alms  to  be  dependent  on  the  chance 
charity  of  private  men,  or  the  precarious  pittance  of  a  trust-fund,  but 
a  sacred  debt  which  the  commonwealth  owed  to  every  one  of  her  chil- 
dren. The  opening  of  the  first  grammar  school  was  the  opening  of 
the  first  trench  against  monopoly  in  Church  and  State  ;  the  first  row 
of  trammels  and  pothooks  which  the  little  Shearjashubs  and  Elkanahs 
blotted  and  blubbered  across  their  copy-books,  was  the  preamble  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence." 

"  The  arts,  sciences,  and  literature  of  England,"  said  Daniel  Webster, 
"  came  over  with  these  settlers.  That  great  portion  of  the  common 
law  which  regulates  the  social  and  personal  relations  and  conduct  of 
men,  came  over  also.  The  jury  came ;  the  habeas  corpus  came  ;  the 
testamentary  power  came ;  and  the  law  of  inheritance  and  descent 
came  also.  But  the  monarchy  did  not  come,  nor  the  aristocracy,  nor 
the  church,  as  an  estate  of  the  realm.  Political  institutions  were  to  be 
framed  anew,  such  as  should  be  adapted  to  the  state  of  things." 

It  may  be  added  to  the  preceding  statements  that  the 
Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  as  soon  as  they  organized  civil 
government  adopted  the  written  ballot  and  the  law  which 
prevailed  in  Holland,  but  not  in  England,  requiring  a 
public  record  of  land  titles,  deeds,  and  mortgages,  as  a 
protection  against  fraud,  and  for  facilitating  the  transaction 
of  business.  The  same  rule  was  followed  a  little  later  by 
the  Puritans  of  the  Bay  Colony.  The  Dutch  settlers  in 
New  Netherlands  adopted  similar  laws,  which  they  brought 
with  them  from  the  republic  of  Holland. 

The  published  records  and  special  histories  of  several 
hundred  towns  in  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  Con- 
necticut, and  Maine  are  now  to  be  found  in  the  state,  city, 
and  town  libraries  of  New  England.     To  the  student  of 

AM.   PUB.    SCH.   2. 


1 8         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

educational  history  they  furnish  an  account  of  the  begin- 
nings of  the  free  American  rural  common  school, — the 
most  democratic  institution  known  on  the  face  of  the 
earth, — a  school  under  the  control  of  the  civil  power,  free 
to  boys  and  girls  alike,  supported  by  a  direct  property  tax 
voted  by  the  people  assembled  in  town  meeting.  The 
limits  of  this  chapter  will  not  admit  of  many  extracts  from 
original  town  records  in  proof  of  the  preceding  statements, 
but  a  few  quotations  will  make  luminous  the  origin  of 
common  schools. 

HISTORICAL  RECORDS  OF  COMMON   SCHOOLS. 

Town  of  Hampton  (N.  H.). — ■"  On  the  2  of  the  2  mo.,  1649.  The  select- 
men of  this  Towne  of  Hampton  have  agreed  with  John  Legat  for  this 
present  yeare  insueing — To  teach  and  instruct  all  the  children  of  or  be- 
longing to  our  Towne  both  tnayle  andfemaile  (wch  are  capiable  of  learn- 
ing) to  write  and  read  and  cast  accountes  (if  it  be  desired)  as  dilegently 
and  as  carefully  as  he  is  able  to  teach  and  instruct  them  ;  And  so  dile- 
gently to  follow  the  said  imploymentt  at  all  such  time  and  times  this 
yeare  insueing,  as  the  wether  shall  be  fitting  for  the  youth  to  com 
together  to  one  place  to  be  instructed ;  And  also  to  teach  and  instruct 
them  once  in  a  week,  or  more,  in  some  Arthodox  catechise  provided 
for  them  by  their  parents  or  masters. — And  in  consideration  hereof  we 
have  agreed  to  pay  or  cause  to  be  payd  unto  the  said  John  Legat  the 
som  of  Twenty  pounds,  in  corne  and  cattle  and  butter  att  price  current, 
as  payments  are  made  of  such  goods  in  this  Towne,  and  this  to  be 
payd  by  us  quarterly,  paying  ^^5  every  quarter  of  the  yeare  after  he  has 
begun  to  keep  school.^  "  This  record  was  made  ten  years  after  the 
settlement  of  the  town  (1639).  In  1670  the  town  record  runs  as  fol- 
lows :  "  That  the  Schoolemaster's  Rate  for  this  year  shall  bee  Raised 
by  Estates  of  the  Inhabitants  as  other  Towne  Rates  are."  Hampton 
Academy  was  incorporated  in  1810. 

Town  of  Plymouth  (Mass.). — 1673.  Ordered  in  town  meeting  "  that 
the  charge  of  the  free  scools  which  is  three  and  thirty  pounds  a  year 
shall  be  defrayed  out  of  the  proffits  arising  by  the  fishing  at  the  Cape." 

1  Dow's  "History  of  Hampton*'  (1893),  Vol.  I. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  jg 

Town  of  Sanbornton  (N.  H.).— This  town,  settled  in 
1764,  voted  in  1774  '*  to  hire  a  school  teacher  part  of  this 
year  and  raise  $30  for  that  purpose."  Capt.  Eben  San- 
born, the  teacher,  was  paid  $5.00  a  month.  He  taught  in 
a  barn,  and  many  of  his  pupils  used  birch  bark  as  writing 
paper. 

Town  of  Pittsfield  (N.  H.).— This  town  was  settled  in 
1768,  largely  by  emigrants  from  the  town  of  Hampton. 
The  following  extracts  from  the  manuscript  records  show 
that  the  custom  of  electing  the  teacher  in  town  meeting 
had  been  kept  up  in  parts  of  New  England  for  more  than 
a  century.  This  record  also  illustrates  the  manner  of  elect- 
ing ministers,  which  was  common  in  parts  of  New  England 
for  more  than  a  century.  It  further  shows  the  natural 
development  of  the  academy. 

"1782. —  Voted.  To  hire  Jonathan  Brown  to  teach  a  school  for 
six  months  at  nine  dollars  a  month." 

"  Voted.  To  build  a  meeting-house  of  the  same  bigness  of  Hamp- 
ton Falls  meeting-house,  except  the  posts  to  be  one  foot  shorter." 

"  Voted.  To  raise  some  money  this  year  for  preaching,  to  be  paid 
in  corn,  grain,  and  other  produce." 

1789. —  Voted.  Mr.  Christopher  Paige  a  salary  of  sixty-six  pounds 
yearly,  the  one-third  part  in  cash,  and  one-third  part  in  corn  at  three 
shillings  per  bushel,  and  a  third  part  in  good  beef  at  twenty  shillings 
per  hundred,  during  his  ministry  in  said  town."i 

Forty  years  after  the  preceding  record  the  farmers  of 
this  small  town  of  less  than  a  thousand  inhabitants  con- 
tributed labor,  lumber,  and  money ;  erected  a  building ; 
and  established  an  undenominational  academy.  This 
institution  had  no  endowments,  no  apparatus,  and  no 
library.  The  successive  preceptors  of  the  school  were 
young  graduates  of  Dartmouth  College,  who  were  study- 

^  Original  unpublished  records  of  the  town  of  Pittsfield. 


20         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

ing  law,  medicine,  or  theology.  But  this  almost  unknown 
academy,  typical  of  many  others,  made  a  good  record.  It 
sent  many  students  to  college.  Of  its  farmer-boy  students, 
one  became  a  United  States  senator  from  his  native 
state ;  another  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  ;  a  third, 
a  judge  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Minnesota.  A  large 
number  studied  law,  many  became  teachers,  and  still  more 
became  successful  business  men  in  the  various  pursuits  of 
life.  More  than  half  of  the  young  men  moved  West,  and 
a  few  reached  California.  Half  a  century  after  its  foun- 
dation the  academy  was  transformed  into  a  town  high 
school. 

Dame  Schools, — These  schools,  both  in  England  and 
New  England  were  small  private  schools  set  up  by 
women,  generally  in  their  own  homes,  for  teaching  young 
children  to  read  in  the  primer  or  catechism.  In  most 
of  the  grammar-school  towns  the  dame  schools,  for  a 
century  or  more,  fitted  the  boys  for  admission  to  thejLatin 
schools,  that  is  to  say,  taught  them  *^  to  read  the  English 
language  by  spelling  the  same.*'  It  was  in  such  schools 
that  the  little  girls  learned  to  read  ;  but  girls  were  not 
allowed  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  grammar  school 
until  about  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  the 
course  of  time,  some  of  the  towns  began  to  aid  these 
private  dame  schools  by  small  subsidies  as  an  encourage- 
ment to  continue  their  good  work.  Next,  one  town  after 
another  began  to  employ  teachers  at  a  regular  salary. 
This  innovation  was  the  beginning  of  the  modern  primary 
school. 

The  town  of  Woburn(i64i)  agreed  to  pay  Mrs.  Walker 
ten  shillings  for  the  first  year.  In  1673  the  town  records 
show  that  two  "  dame  teachers  "  were  paid  a  total  sum  of 
ten   shillings,  or  five  shillings  each,  for  the  year.     But 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS^iUSSS!^       21 

these  ''  dame  teachers  "  undoubtedly  collected  the  con- 
ventional tuition-fee  for  supplementary  support. 

Town  of  Springfield  (Mass.)  —  1682.  "  The  Selectmen  agreed  with 
Goodvvife  Mirick,  to  encourage  her  in  the  good  work  of  training 
up  of  children  and  teaching  children  to  read,  that  she  should  have  3d. 
a  week  for  every  child  that  she  takes  to  perform   this  good  work  for." 

Town  of  Hadley  (Mass.).  — 1749,  March  13.  It  was  voted  that  the 
committee  should  "  hire  three  School  Dames  for  three  or  four  months 
in  the  Summer  season  to  learn  children  to  read."  In  1752  it  was  voted 
that  "  30  pounds  be  improved  to  hire  a  scool  master  all  the  fall  of 
the  year ;  and  that  the  other  30  pounds  be  improved  to  hire  Scoole 
Dames  in  the  Summer." 

Town  of  Salem  (Mass.).  —  "  1764,  May  16.  Order  for  ^10  to  pay  for 
learning  the  poorest  children  to  read  at  women's  schools," 

"  1771,  Feb.  12.  Widow  Abigail  Fowler,  a  noted  'school  dame' 
finished  her  earthly  labors.  She  was  in  her  68th  year,  and  began  to 
teach  children  before  she  was  18,  and  continued  so  to  do  till  her  de- 
cease, with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  after  she  was  married." 

Education  of  Girls.  —  The  records  of  the  town  of  Hamp- 
_ton  (N.  H.),j64g^  show  that"~nTg~-fTrst  schot?t"estaBlIshed 
there  was  open  to  ''  all  the  childrenor~or_belonging^t6^ 
our  town,  l?ot/i  nialTand  female^  In  most  of  the  rural 
town  or  district  schools  estabHshed  after  that  date  in  New 
Hampshire  and  the  small  rural  districts  of  Massachusetts 
the  schools  were  open  to  both  girls  and  boys.  The 
grammar-school  towns  laggf^d  far  bphinH  thp  mral  Hk, 
frjctsj^n  providing^for  the  education  of  girls,  seeming  to 
have  been  content  with  English  precedents. 

Town  of  Salem  (Mass.). —  181 2,  June  11.  The  historian  of  this  town 
quotes  from  the  records  of  this  date,  as  follows  :  "  In  the  four  public 
schools  for  English  there  are  465  boys  and  295  girls.  The  latter  at- 
tended, as  usual,  an  hour  at  noon,  and  another  in  the  afternoon.  The 
Grammar  school  (Latin)  had  40  pupils."  To  the  credit  of  this  town 
it  may  be  here  stated  that  13  years  later  when  it  had  become  an  incor- 
porated city,  two  high  schools  were  opened,  one  for  boys  and  another 


22         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

for  girls.  "  At  this  time,"  says  the  historian,  "  the  tuition  of  females 
for  an  hour  each  day  during  a  part  of  the  year  at  the  masters'  schools 
seems  to  have  been  relinquished." 


COLONIAL  SCHOOL  LAWS  IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Turning  to  legislative  records,  we  find  that  in  1642 
the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  enacted  that  the 
selectmen  of  every  town  *'  should  have  a  vigilant  eye 
over  their  brethren  and  neighbors  to  see  that  none  of 
them  shall  suffer  so  much  barbarism  in  any  of  their  fami- 
lies as  not  to  endeavor  to  teach  by  themselves  or  others, 
their  children  and  apprentices  so  much  learning  as  to  en- 
able them  to  read  perfectly  the  English  tongue,  under  a 
penalty  of  20s  for  each  neglect  therein."  The  Connecti- 
cut code  of  1650  contained  a  similar  provision. 

The  General  Court  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  (1658) 
proposed  "  unto  the  several  Townshipes  of  this  Jurisdic- 
tion, as  a  thing  they  ought  to  take  into  their  serious  con- 
sideration, that  some  course  may  be  taken  that  in  every 
Towne  there  may  be  a  schoolmaster  sett  up  to  traine  up 
children  to  reading  and  writing." 

In  1677,  the  General  Court  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  made  the  fol- 
lowing order  :  "  That  in  whatsoever  Townshipe  in  this  Government, 
consisting  of  50  families  or  upwards,  any  meet  man  shall  be  obtained 
to  teach  a  Gramer  Scoole,  such  townshippe  shall  allow  at  least  twelve 
pounds  in  currant  merchantable  pay,  to  be  raised  by  rate  on  all  the 
inhabitants  of  such  towne,  and  those  that  have  the  more  immede- 
ate  benefit  thereof  by  their  children's  going  to  school,  with  what 
others  may  voluntarily  give  to  promote  so  good  a  work  and  general, 
shall  make  up  the  residue  Necessarie  to  maintaine  the  same ;  and  that 
the  proffits  of  the  Cape  ffishing  heretofore  ordered  to  maintain  a 
Gramer  Scoole  in  the  colonic  be  distributed  to  such  towns  as  have 
Gramer  Scooles,  for  the  maintainance  thereof,"  etc. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  23 

The  Massachusetts  Colony  law  of  1647  required  ever^ 
tovvnoffifty  families  or  upwards  to  appoint  a  teacher  to 
instruct  children  in  reading  and  writing ;  and  every  town 
^ot  one  hundred  families  ''  to  set  up  a  grammar  school,  the 
expense  to  be  borne  by  the  town  or  by  the  parents  as  the 
town  may  determine."  This  was  pnly  a  legal  recomrnenda- 
tion,  as  no  penalty  was  attached  for  not  carrying  it  into 
effect.  The  Connecticut  Colony  law  passed  a  few  years 
later  (1650)  enacted  that  every  town  having__^eveiity 
householders,  or  upwards,  should  maintain  a  school  for 
eleven    months   each   year,   anc^  that  a  grammar  school 


should  be  set  upjn  every  head  or  county  town.  For  the 
support  of  such  schools  a  tax  of  forty  shillings  ''upon 
every  thousand  pounds  in  the  lists  of  the  respective 
towns  "  was  levied  and  collected  by  colonial  law. 

The  New  Haven  Code  (1656)  ordered  "That  all  Parents  and  Mas- 
ters doe  duly  endeavor,  either  by  their  own  ability  and  labour,  or  by 
improving  such  Schoolmaster,  or  other  helps  and  means,  as  the  Plan- 
tation doth  afford,  or  the  family  may  conveniently  provide,  that  all 
their  Children  and  Apprentices,  as  they  grow  capable,  may,  through 
God's  blessing,  attain  at  least  so  much,  as  to  be  able  to  read  the 
Scriplures  and  other  good  and  profitable  printed  Books  in  the  English 
tongue,  being  their  native  language,  and  in  some  competent  measure, 
to  understand  the  main  grounds  and  principles  of  Christian  religion 
necessary  to  Salvation."  H^ 

If 

COLONIAL   SCHOOLS   IN   NEW   YORK. 

The  Dutch  West  India  Company  established  trading 
posts  on  Manhattan  Island  and  at  various  other  points  in 
the  province  of  New  Netherlands,  a  few  years  before  the 
English  made  a  lodgment  in  New  England.  The  church 
and  the  school  were  established  together.  These  sturdy 
republicans  brought  with  them  some  of  the  best  of  the 


24         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

civil  institutions  of  Holland  ;  such  as  the  written  ballot, 
public  records  of  land  titles  and  legal  documents,  and 
elementary  schools  for  the  education  of  the  children  of 
the  common  people.  In  1633  Adam  Roelandsen  was 
sent  over  from  the  mother  country  to  take  charge  of  the 
school  in  the  town  of  New  Amsterdam  on  Manhattan 
Island.  This  first  public  school  with  an  established  record 
was  called  ''  The  School  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Protes- 
tant Church."  It  is  still  in  existence  in  New  York  city, 
and  is  claimed  to  be  the  oldest  school  in  the  United  States. 
Dutch  Colonial  Schools.  —  Schools  were  opened  at  Al- 
bany (1650) ;  Flatbush  (1659);  Brooklyn  (1661).  In  the 
town  of  New  Amsterdam  a  Latin  grammar  school,  or 
classical  school,  was  established  in  1659  and  was  supported 
partly  by  tuition  fees  and  partly  by  taxation.  These 
early  schools  seem  to  have  been  chiefly  managed  by  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Protestant  Church ;  but  as  the  town 
settlements  grew  stronger  the  schools  were  maintained, 
in  part,  or  entirely,  by  public  moneys.  The  tendency  was 
in  the  same  g^eneral  direction  as  in  the  rural  settlern^nts 
in  New  England,  that  is,  towards  providing  elementary 
instruction  for  the  many  rather  than  aliraining  in"  Latin^ 
Torthe  few.  Instruction  was  given  in  reading  and  writ- 
ing the  Dutch  language,  in  arithmetic,  in  the  catechism 
of  the  Dutch  Church,  and  in  the  Bible.  Those  early  set- 
tlers, like  the  Pilgrims  and  Puritans,  highly  prized  the 
right  to  read  the  Bible  and  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  conscience.  They  held  in  living  remem- 
brance the  long  and  bloody  war  which  their  ancestors  had 
waged  against  Spain,  and  in  defense  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty.  These  colonists  from  Holland  brought  with  them 
advanced  ideas  about  elementary  schools  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  common  people.     At  this  time  the  republic  of 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS 


25 


Holland  was  the  leading  nation  of  Europe  in  commerce, 
industries,  civil  liberty,  and  the  general  education  of  its 
people.^ 

English  Schools. — But  this  province  was  seizedbyJEng^ 
land  in  1664,  and  the  Dutch  schools  were  arrested  in  devel- 
opment. Under  English  rule  the  royal  governors  were 
unfriendly  to  schools  that  were  not  under  the  protecting 
care  of  the  English  Church.  They  vetoed  several  attempts 
to  establish  common  schools  managed  directly  by  the 
people.  They  established  several  Latin  grammar  schools, 
and  founded  (1754)  King's  College,  now  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. One  governor,  in  a  letter  to  the  home  govern- 
ment, urged  a  charter  for  King's  College  in  the  town  of 
New  York,  "  not  only  on  account  of  religion,  but  of  good 
policy,  to  preve7it  the  growth  of  republican  principles 
ivhich  already  too  much  prevail  in  the  colonies^  During 
the  reign  of  King  James,  the  colony  was  forbidden  to 
have  a  printing  press. 

Meantime,  the  strongest  of  the  Dutch  colonial  schools 
maintained  a  lingering  existence  under  teachers  selected  by 
the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  a  right  guaranteed  to  them 
under  the  terms  of  surrender  in  1664.  Thus  for  a  long 
period  there  were  two  rival  sets  of  public  schools ;  one 
class  under  the  control  of  the  Church  of  England,  the  ' 
other  governed  by  the  Dutch  Reformed  Protestant  Church.  ^ 
Both  were  eventually  fused  into  a  composite  system  of 
free  common  Schools.  For  a  century,  however,  "  The 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,"  under  the  auspices  of  the  Church  of  England, 
looked  after  the  establishment  of  parish  schools,  which 
were  mainly   supported  by  tuition  fees.     From   1704  to 

1  See  Motley's  "  Dutch  Republic,"  also  Campbell's  "  The  Puritan  in 
Holland,  England,  and  America." 


26         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

1776  this  society  established  twenty-one  schools.  These 
schools  provided  for  the  education  of  a  part  of  the  chil- 
dren, but  not  for  all.  They  were  good  in  their  way,  and 
were  the  natural  development  of  civil  and  political  con- 
ditions. 

The  common-school  record  of  New  York,  chiefly  made 
up  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  will  again  be 
considered  in  a  succeeding  chapter.  "  We  must  be  con- 
tent for  the  present,"  says  Andrew  S.  Draper,  "  with  the 
statement,  which  is  abundantly  supported  by  the  facts, 
that  under  the  mistaken  policy  of  the  English  rule,  the 
schools  languished,  and  during  the  progress  of  the  war  for 
independence  which  raged  with  great  fierceness  over  our 
territory,  they  were  nearly  or  quite  obliterated.  The  fury 
of  war  had  closed  the  doors  or  entirely  extinguished  the 
single  college,  and,  practically,  all  the  academies  and 
schools." 

But  the  Dutch  and  the  English  schools  together  trained 
up  several  generations  into  a  patriotic  people.  During 
the  Revolutionary  War  New  York  supplied  her  full  quota 
of  troops  and  answered  all  requisitions  of  the  Continental 
Congress  for  money.  The  descendants  of  the  Dutch  set- 
tlers proved  themselves  worthy  of  their  ancestors  in  Hol- 
land who  had  defied  the  power  of  Spain,  and  established 
a  Dutch  republic.  English  Puritans  and  Dutch  Puritans 
stood  together  for  independence. 

COLONIAL   SCHOOLS   Ijj^PENNSYLVANIA. 

William  Penn  sent  the  first  colony  of  English  Quakers 
to  Philadelphia  half  a  century  after  the  Pilgrims  settled 
at  Plymouth.  The  desire  for  religious  liberty  led  to  the 
foundation   of  Pennsylvania  as  well  as   to  that  of   New 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  27 

England.  The  tolerant  government  of  the  province  soon 
attracted  great  numbers  of  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians, 
German  Lutherans,  Swedish  Lutherans,  Dutch  Mennon- 
ites,  Moravians,  English  Episcopalians,  and  Catholics. 
In  1685  only  about  half  the  inhabitants  were  of  English 
descent.  The  Scotch-Irish,  driven  from  the  north  of 
Ireland  by  the  decay  of  the  linen  industry,  came  in  great 
numbers,  and  the  German  immigration  from  the  Palati- 
nate was  large.  The  population  of  the  province  rose 
from  20,000  in  1701  to  250,000  in  1749.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolution  about 
one  third  of  the  population  of  Pennsylvania  was  of  Scotch- 
Irish  stock. 1 

Parish  Schools. — It  was  impossible  for  these  divergent 
peoples  to  act  together  in  organizing  public  schools. 
Consequently  education  was  provided  for  by  typical 
parish  and  *'  society  "  schools  under  the  control  of  zealous 
religious  sects.  These  sectarian  schools  were  supported 
by  tuition  fees,  though  the  children  of  the  poor  were  some- 
times admitted  as  free  charity  or  pauper  pupils.  They 
educateda^  part  of  the  children,  but  not  all.  It  was  not 
possible  at  that  time  for  the  people  to  conceive  of  schools 
disconnected  from  church  or  society  control.  But  the 
Scotch-Irish  Presbyterian  schools  and  the  German  schools 
educated  their  children  to  some  purpose  ;  for  this  fighting 
stock  contributed  a  majority  of  the  Pennsylvania  quota 
of  troops  during  the  Revolution.  In  Pennsylvania  one 
third  of  the  population  was  made  up  of  Quakers  who  had 
conscientious  scruples  against  bearing  arms.  The  fight- 
ing men  of  this  state  came  chiefly  from  the  Scotch-Irish 
and  the  Germans. 

'  "  The  Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America,"  by  Douglas 
Campbell  (1892). 


28         HIS  TOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

The  Provincial  Council  in  1683,  on  the  i6thof  October 
established  a  private  school  by  the  following  enactment :  ^ 

"  The  Governor  and  Provincial  Council  having  taken  into  their 
serious  consideration  the  great  necessity  there  is  of  a  School  Master 
for  ye  instruction  &  Sober  Education  of  youth  in  the  towne  of  Phila- 
delphia, sent  for  Enoch  Flower,  an  inhabitant  of  the  said  towne  who 
for  twenty  years  past  hath  been  exercised  in  that  care  and  employment 
in  England,  to  whom  having  communicated  their  minds,  he  embraced 
it  upon  the  following  terms  :  To  learn  to  read  English,  4s  by  the 
Quarter,  to  learn  to  read  &  write  and  cast  accounts,  8s  by  the  Quarter ; 
for  boarding  a  scholar,  that  is  to  say,  diet,  washing,  lodging,  and  school- 
ing, ten  pounds  for  one  whole  year." 

Friends^  Public  School.  —  A  grammar  school  was  char- 
tered  by  the  Council  in  i68q_  '*  at  the  request7costs,  and 
charges  of  the  people  called  Quakers."  This  school  is 
stil)  in  existence  as  the  **  Friends'  Public  School."  The 
petitioners  stipulated  to  instruct  the  rich  at  reasonable, 
rateg^T  the  pnnr  to  he  "'  ^rhooled  fojuiothing."  '*  With  a 
few  legislative  resolutions,"  says  Dr.  J.  P.  Wickersham  in 
his  ''  History  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania,"  "  none  of 
which  were  in  the  direction  of  the  common  school  idea, 
the  historian  of  this  colony  may  dismiss  the  considera- 
tion  of  education  for  well  nigh  a  hundred  years." 

BepjanmiJEranklin,  remembering  his  three  years'  course 
in  a  Mbston  grammar  school,  made  a  resolute  endeavor 
to  educate  popular  opinion  up  to  the  point  of  establishing 
free  common  schools,  but  he  failed  as  Jefferson  afterwards 
failed  in  Virginia.  He  succeeded,  however,  in_securirig 
a  chartered  acad^my^in'rhiladelphia  (1755),  with  the 
fSfee_departme4vts-Q£  -charity  scTi ooI7  academy,  and  col- 
lege.     This  triple  school  eventually  was  developed  into 

^  Quoted  from  Dr.  Blackmar's  "  Bulletin  of  Information,"  Bureau  of 
Education,  1890. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  29 

the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Franklin's  school 
itself  was  a  modified  form  of  Penn's  grammar  school  of 
1697.  It  was  not  until  after  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution  that  any  reaTTieadway  was  made  in  establishing 
puBfic  schools,  and  eventhen  progress  wasslow. 

COLONIAL   SCHOOLS   IN  VIRGINIA. 


The  English  settlers  in  Virginia,  and  their  descendants 
for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  after  the  settlement  of 
Jamestown  (1607),  were  content  with  private  tutors  and 
parish_schools  established  by  the   Church   of    England, 


supplemented  by  a  few  grammar  schools,  academies^^ 
gejniinaries,  and_the^ollege  of  William  and  Mary\  All  of 
these  schools  were  sypportedchjefly  by  tuition  fees.  They 
taught  the  children  whose  paTents~couM"afford  to  pay  for 
an  education,  and  left  large  numbers  in  the  rural  districts 
with  little  or  no  schooling.  In  Virginia  the  system  of 
land  tenure,  the  absence  of  town  government,  a  scattered 
rural  population,  the  parish  schools  of  the  Church  of 
England,  and  the  institution  of  slavery, — all  stood  in  the 
way  of  public  schools  for  nearly  two  centuries.  In  early 
colonial  times  (1671)  Governor  Berkeley  placed  himself 
on  record  as  a  bluff  old  English  Tory  by  declaring :  "  I 
thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  or  printing,  and  I 
hope  we  shall  not  have  them  these  hundred  years."  Vir- 
ginia was  filled  up  by  a  homogeneous  people  from  Eng- 
land, strong  in  their  attachment  to  the  Established 
Church.  They  clung  to  the  civil  institutions  of  England 
with  extreme  tenacity  until  long  after  the  Revolution. 

George  Washington  was  taught  to  read  and  write  and 
cipher  in  a  parish  school.  He  was  taught  surveying  by  a 
private  tutor.     He  was  trained  to  arms  in  the  French  and 


30         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Indian  War,  and  was  the  one  man  in*all  the  colonies  best 
fitted  to  command  the  Continental  Army,  and  to  organize 
civil  government  as  first  president  of  the  United  States. 

In  1776,  Thomas  Jefferson  retired  from  the  Continental 
Congress  and  became  a  member  of  the  legislature  of 
Virginia.  By  his  efforts  the  laws  of  entail,  primogeniture, 
and  the  union  of  Church  and  State  were  removed  from 
the  statute  books  ;  but  the  hostility  of  the  ecclesiastical 
and  landed  interests  proved  an  impassable  barrier  to  his 
earnest  efforts  in  behalf  of  a  system  of  public  schools. 
The  "  old  field  schools,"  supported  by  tuition  fees,  were 
considered  to  be  sufficient  for  the  common  people. 

But  the  work  of  the  early  educational  institutions  of 
the  Old  Dominion  must  not  be  underrated.  They  gave 
to  the  new  republic  great  statesmen  like  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  and  Patrick  Henry,  and  sent 
into  the  Continental  Army  a  body  of  patriotic  soldiers 
worthy  of  their  great  commander-in-chief. 

SLOW  COLONIAL  PROGRESS. 

During  the  first  century  of  settlement  the  colonists 
were  mainly  engaged  in  fighting  the  Indians,  subduing  the 
wilderness,  and  organizing  civil  government.  In  the  second 
century  there  came  the  deadly  contests  with  the  French  and 
Indians,  soon  after  to  be  followed  by  the  long  and  desperate 
struggle  for  independence.  During  much  of  this  period 
the  people  guarded  their  homes,  their  churches  and  their 
schools  with  musket  always  at  hand.  Without  compunc- 
tion they  exterminated  Indians,  for  otherwise  they  them- 
selves would  have  vanished  from  off  the  earth.  Taxation 
was  heavy ;  the  people  were  poor  ;  and  educational  prog- 
ress was    of  necessity  slow   and    irregular.     But    it  was 


COLONIA,L  SCHOOLS  3 1 

during  this  very  period  of  neglect  by  the  mother  country 
and  misrule  by  royal  governors,  that  in  New  England 
the  common  schools  took  root  and  grew  strong.  Almost 
from  the  beginning  these  schools  were  kept  under  direct 
control  of  town  officers,  or  under  the  decision  of  a  general 
town  meeting,  or  the  democratic  vote  of  a  school-district 
meeting.  If  in  the  beginning  the  schools  were  enveloped 
in  an  atmosphere  more  or  less  ecclesiastical,  it  should  be 
remembered  that  deep  religious  convictions  constituted 
the  strength  of  Puritan  character.  If  at  first  the  right  of 
voting  was  limited  exclusively  to  church  members,  the 
elective  franchise  was  soon  extended  to  all  town  free- 
holders. If  some  of  the  schools  at  first  were  partly  sup- 
ported by  tuition  fees,  they  sopn  became  free,  and  at  all 
times  received  pupils  without  distinction  of  class  or  caste, 
and,  in  rural  districts,  without  distinction  of  sex.  The 
fact  that  these  primitive  common  schools  survived  in  the 
struggle  with  private  schools  and  denominational  institu- 
tions proves  their  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  a  free  people. 
The  Colonial  Crisis.  —  For  more  than  a  century  these 
schools  gave  to  the  great  mass  of  the  common  people  a 
fair  elementary  education.  Then  there  came  the  great 
colonial  crisis  which  summoned  men  to  arms  against  the 
oppression  of  the  mother  country.  The  minute-men 
who  rushed  into  battle  at  Lexington,  and  Concord,  and 
Bunker  Hill,  had  been  trained  to  arms  in  the  French  and 
Indian  War,  and  drilled  into  intelligent  patriots  in  the 
common  schools.  They  knew  what  they  were  fighting 
for.  These  ''  embattled  farmers  "  stood  by  Washington 
in  the  siege  of  Boston,  and  drove  out  the  British  troops 
and  a  thousand  colonial  "  tories,"  who  sailed  away  to 
Halifax  on  board  the  British  fleet.  They  followed  their 
great  commander  to  New  York,  and  Trenton,  and  Valley 


32 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


Forge.  They  enlisted  for  the  war  in  the  Continental 
Army,  and  when,  after  the  final  triumph  at  Yorktown, 
that  army  was  disbanded,  they  constituted,  according  to 
the  records  of  the  war  department,  a  majority  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  veterans  of  the  war.  No  wonder  the  great 
Virginian  exclaimed :  "  God  bless  the  New  England 
troops! " 

But  the  New  England  troops  did  not  stand  alone  in 
the  long  battle  for  independence.  The  Continental  Con- 
gress, on  the  14th  of  June,  1775,  made  the  beginning  of  a 
regular  army  by  enacting  **  that  six  companies  of  expert 
riflemen  be  immediately  raised  in  Pennsylvania,  two  in 
Maryland,  and  two  in  Virginia.  These  were  the  first 
troops  levied  by  direct  act  of  Congress.  It  was  a  call  to 
frontiersmen  of  the  Alleghanies  who  were  experts  in  the 
use  of  the  famous  backwoods  rifle,  and  were  trained  in 
Indian  warfare.  The  hardy  pioneers  of  western  Pennsyl- 
vania had  met  in  a  pi;blic  meeting  at  Hanover,  June  4, 
1774,  and  passed  defiant  resolutions,  the  last  of  which  read 
as  follows :  "  4th.  That  in  the  event  of  Great  Britain 
attempting  to  force  unjust  laws  upon  us  by  the  strength 
of  arms,  our  cause  we  leave  to  Heaven  and  our  rifles." 

"  On  the  1 8th  of  July,  1775,  the  first  company  of  rifle- 
men, Nagel's  Berks  County  *  Dutchmen',  arrived  at 
Cambridge,  and  within  less  than  sixty  days  from  the  date 
of  the  resolution  of  Congress,  1430  backwoodsmen, 
instead  of  the  810  required,  had  been  raised,  equipped  by 
themselves,  and  had  joined  the  army  before  Boston,  after 
marching  from  four  to  seven  hundred  miles  over  difficult 
roads — all  without  a  farthing  being  advanced  by  the  Con- 
tinental treasury."  ^ 

1  "  The  Birth  of  the  American  Army,"  by  Horace  Kephart,  Harper's 
Magazine,  May,  1899. 


COLONIAL  SCHOOLS  33 

The  riflemen  of  Western  Virginia  and  Maryland  re- 
sponded to  the  call  with  equal  promptness.  Daniel 
Morgan,  just  returned  from  an  Indian  war,  led  the  Vir- 
ginians. 

"  About  two-thirds  of  the  riflemen  were  of  Scotch-Irish  descent," 
says  Kephart,  "  and  nearly  all  of  the  remainder  were  '  Pennsylvania 
Dutchmen  ' — that  is  to  say,  of  Swiss  or  Palatine  origin.  Many  of  the 
Marylanders  and  Virginians  were  immigrants  from  western  Pennsyl- 
vania. The  famous  rifle  corps  which  Morgan  aftenvards  formed  from 
marksmen  picked  from  the  whole  army  is  usually  referred  to  as  '  Mor- 
gan's Virginians,'  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  two  thirds  of  them  were 
Pennsylvanians,  including  a  considerable  number  of  Pennsylvania 
Germans.  .  .  .  When  Washington,  one  day  riding  along  his  lines,  saw 
the  fringed  hunting-shirts  of  the  Virginians  approaching,  the  reserve 
of  his  naturally  undemonstrative  nature  broke  down.  At  the  sight,  he 
stopped ;  the  riflemen  drew  nearer,  and  the  commander,  stepping  in 
front,  made  the  military  salute,  exclaiming,  '  General,  from  the  right 
bank  of  the  Potomac  ! '  Washington  dismounted,  c^me  to  meet  the 
battalion,  and  going  down  the  line  with  both  arms  extended  shook 
hands  with  the  riflemen  one  by  one,  tears  rolhng  down  his  cheeks  as 
he  did  so." 

These  hardy  sharpshooters  did  effective  service  in  the 
siege  of  Boston.  They  enlisted  in  the  Continental  Army 
and  fought  during  the  war  or  fell  on  the  field  of  battle. 

AM.  PUB.  SCH. — 3 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 

The  ^seven  yea^^_war  for  independence  was  a  trying 
time  for  the  people  of  the  new  republic  or  confederation. 
Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia  were  successively 
occupied  by  British  armies.  Commerce  wasinterrupted 
or  suspended,  taxation  was  hi^h,  and  ''  hajj_times  "  every- 
where prevailed.  From  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  to  the  ratification  of  the  Constitution  and  the  inaug- 
uration of  Washington,  there  was  also  a  seven  years*  period 
of  political  unrest,  of  scarcity  of  coin  and  superabundance 
of  depreciated  paper  money,  of  high  taxation,  of  general 
poverty  and  dissatisfaction. 

A  general  census  taken  in  1 790,  one  year  after  the  final  ratification 
of  the  Constitution  by  nine  states,  showed  the  population  of  the  United 
States  to  be  3,929,000.  At  this  time  Virginia  had  747,000  inhabitants, 
or  about  one-fifth  of  the  entire  population  of  the  whole  country. 
Massachusetts,  including  the  Province  of  Maine,  had,  in  round  num- 
bers, a  population  of  475,000  ;  Pennsylvania,  434,000  ;  North  Carolina, 
394,000 ;  New  York,  340,000 ;  Maryland,  320,000 ;  South  Carolina, 
240,000;  Connecticut,  238,000;  New  Jersey,  184,000;  New  Hamp- 
shire, 142,000;  Rhode  Island,  69,000;  Georgia,  82,000;  Delaware, 
59,000;  Kentucky  (soon  after  admitted)  74,000  ;  and  Vermont,  85,000. 

The  New  England  States  together  had  a  population  of 
a  little  more  than  one  million  ;  the  four  Middle  States  had 
a  little  less  than  a  million  ;  and  the  Southern  States  footed 
up  1,657,000  inhabitants,  including  negro  slaves  as  "per- 
sons.'* 

In  1786,  four  years  before  this  first  general  census,  the 

34 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  35 

population  of  the  three  great  commercial  cities  of  the 
country  ranked  as  follows  :  Philadelphia,  32,205  ;  New- 
York,  24,500 ;  Boston,  14,640.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
Revolution  the  population  of  the  colonies  was  estimated 
at  2,750,000;  at  the  close  (1783)  3,250,000. 

The  preceding  statistics  will  show,  in  part,  the  general 
conditions  under  which  the  several  states  began  to  turn 
their  attention  to  the  organization  of  public  schools.  At 
this  time  there  were  in  this  country  no  steamboats,  no 
railroads,  and  no  canals.  Roads  were  bad,  and  land  trans- 
portation  was  slow  and_costly.  A  few  small  cotton  mills 
"and  woolen  mills  in  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island  had 
just  been  set  up  with  rough  imitations  of  the  spinning  and 
weaving  machinery  used  in  England.  Arkwright's  great 
invention  of  the  spinning-jenny  had  been  jealously  guarded 
by  the  British  government,  and  it  was  not  until  eighteen 
years  afterwards  that  the  first  rough  drawings  were  se- 
cured in  America.  At  length,  William  Som^rs,  of  Balti- 
more, went  to  England  and  brought  back  models  and  de- 
scriptions of  machines  for  carding  and  spinning  wool.  He 
applied  to  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  for  aid  in  set- 
ting up  his  models,  and  was  granted  $100  for  that  purpose. 
Application  was  also  made  in  behalf  of  two  Scotchmen  by 
the  name  of  Barr,  who  had  some  knowledge  of  the  spin- 
ning-jenny. "  The  General  Court  voted  to  the  Barrs," 
says  John  Bach  McMaster,  ''  six  tickets  in  a  State  Land 
Lottery,  and  out  of  the  money  they  drew,  the  first  stock- 
card  and  spinning-jenny  in  the  United  States  was  made. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  Washington  had  been  one  year 
president  that  Samuel  Slater  put  up,  in  the  workshops  of 
Almy  &  Brown,  the  first  series  of  machines  worthy  to  be 
called  copies  of  the  famous  inventions  of  Arkwright." 

1  McMaster's  "  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States." 


36        HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Thus  were  made  the  beginninga-oL-CQtton  factories  and 
woolen  mills,  that  soon  brought  about  a  radical  change  in 
the  industrial  conditions  of  New  England,  and  led  up  to 
the  rapid  growth  of  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  and  an 
era  of  unexampled  financial  and  commercial  prosperity. 
These  new  industrial  conditions,  in  turn,  soon  led  to  a, 
^corresponding-  devHopment  of  common_  schools.  About 
this  time,  also,  there  came  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin 
by  Eli  Whitney,  of  Connecticut  (1792),  which  greatly 
stimulated  the  production  of  cotton,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  wealth,  power,  and  prosperity  of  the  cotton- 
growing  states  of  the  South.  In  1786,  the  Continental 
Congress  formally  adopted  a  decimal  system  of  currency, 
but  the  people  were  reluctant  to  change  their  local  cus- 
toms and  usages  in  money  matters.  The  act  creating  the 
United  States  Mint  was  not  passed  until  1792,  and  the 
first  regular  issue  of  money  was  the  copper  cent  of  1793. 
Meantime  all  kinds  of  European  coins,  bogus"  coins,  and 
depreciated  paper  money,  were  used  as  a  circulating  me- 
dium. The  United  States  Patent  Office  was  established 
by  act  of  Congress,  April  10,  1790,  and  to  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson is  due  the  honor  of  securing  it. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the  inaugura- 
tion of  Washington,  and  the  funding  of  the  national  debt 
by  the  wise  policy  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  the  new  nation  entered  upon  an 
era  of  great  industrial  prosperity  and  rapid  expansion  of 
territory.  The  people  had  cut  loose  from  the  civil  gov- 
ernment of  the  mother  country,  and  from  English  educa- 
tional ideals.  Colonial  schools  begaji_a__sio]^eyohrd^oji_ 
_[nto  an  Amerix.an  system  of  public  schools  adapted  to  the 
changed  civil  conditions  under  a  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment.     The  separation  of  State  from  Church  was  fol- 


EARL  Y  AMERICAN  Sch^&Si^^SSi^^  37 

lowed  by  the  gradual  release  of  schools  from  denomiria-_^ 
tional  control.  Within  a  decadealter  the  inauguration  of 
Washington,  new  constitutions  were  adopted  by  eight 
states,  in  which  the  right  of  suffrage  was  greatly  extended, 
and  religious  tests  were  either  modified  or  abolished. 
The  war  of  1812-15  greatly  intensified  the  American  dem- 
ocratic spirit,  especially  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

State  Control  of  Schools.  —  The  new  Constitution  con- 
tained no  section  on  public  education.  EducationaUc^Oz^^ 
ditions  in  the  thirteen  original  states  were  so  divergent 
tHatlT  would  have  been  impossible  for  the  delegates  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention  to  agree  on  any  educational 
provision.  At  this  period  the  idea  of  universal  education 
had  not  entered  into  the  minds  of  statesmen.  Thus  the 
maintenance  of  public  schools  was  left  as  a  matter  of  state 
rights.  Of  the  state  constitutions  that  were  framed  soon 
after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  only  five  mentioned 
education,  and  only  two  contained  school  provisions  of 
any  practical  value.  Thus  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  schools  were  left  to  enactments  by  state  legis- 
latures. These  enactments,  in  turn,  were  at  first  only 
general  outlines,  so  that  the  direct  government  of  the 
schools  was  long  left,  as  in  colonial  times,  mainly  to  the 
local  regulations  of  city,  county,  town,  or  district, — that 
is,  under  immediate  control  of  the  people. 

LAND    RESERVATIONS  FOR   SCHOOLS. 

The  Old  Northwest.  —  Virginia  (1784)  ceded  to  the 
general  government  her  shadowy  title  to  wild  lands  ex- 
tending westward  to  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Virginia  Military  Bounty  Lands  in  the  Northwest 
Territory.     Connecticut  yielded  her  claims,  with  the  ex- 


38         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

ception  of  the  Western  Reserve.  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Massachusetts,  North  CaroHna  and  South  CaroHna, 
Maryland  and  Georgia,  one  by  one  reluctantly  gave  up 
their  somewhat  indefinite  claims  to  other  parts  of  the 
western  wilderness.  It  consequently  became  necessary  for 
Congress  to  outline  a  plan  for  governing  this  vast  extent 
of  territory  and  for  disposing  of  the  public  lands.  Fortu- 
nately for  common  schools  and  state  universities  the  policy 
pursued  was  wise  and  far-reaching. 

The  ordinance  of  1787,  entitled  "An  Ordinance  for  the 
Government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  North- 
west of  the  River  Ohio,"  passed  July  13,  by  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  established  the  territory  as  one  dis- 
trict, but  provided  for  its  future  subdivision  into  "  not 
less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  states."  It  prohibited 
primogeniture  by  providing  that  the  estates  of  deceased 
persons  should  "  descend  to  and  be  distributed  among 
their  children  and  the  descendants  of  a  deceased  child  in 
equal  parts  ;  "  and  secured  to  the  widow  of  the  deceased 
"  her  third  part  of  the  real  estate  for  life,  and  one  third 
part  of  the  personal  estate."  And  ''  for  extending  the 
fundamental  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  to  fix 
and  establish  those  principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  con- 
stitutions, and  governments,  which  forever  hereafter  shall 
be  formed  in  the  said  territory,"  it  ordained  a  bill  of  rights 
in  six  articles. 

Article  First  declared  that  no  "  person  demeaning  himself  in  a 
peaceable  and  orderly  manner  shall  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his 
mode  of  worship  or  religious  sentiments,  in  the  said  territory." 

Article  Second  secured  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury  ;  and  declared  that  "  No  law  ought  ever  to  be  made  which 
should  interfere  with  or  affect  private  contracts  or  engagements,  bo7ia 
fide,  and  without  fraud,  previously  formed," 

Article  Third  declared  that  "  Religion,  morality,  and  knowledge,  be- 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 


39 


ing  necessary  to  good  government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  be  forever  encouraged." 

Article  Sixth,  most  important  of  all  for  the  future  of  the  United 
States,  read  as  follows :  "  There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involun- 
tary servitude  in  the  said  territory,  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment  of 
crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted  :  Provided, 
always,  That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from  whom  labor  or 
service  is  lawfully  claimed  in  any  one  of  the  original  states,  such  fugi- 
tive may  be  lawfully  reclaimed  and  conveyed  to  the  person  claiming 
his  or  her  labor  or  service  as  aforesaid." 

Ten  days  after  the  passage  of  this  famous  ordinance, 
there  was  passed  a  supplementary  act  relating  to  the 
survey  and  sale  of  public  lands,  which  reserved  the  i6th 
section  (640  acres)  of  each  township  for  the  support  of 
common  schools,  and  also  set  apart  two  townships  (46,080 
acres)  "  to  be  given  perpetually  for  the  purposes  of  a 
seminary  of  learning  [or  university],  to  be  applied  to  the 
intended  object  by  the  legislature  of  the  state."  This 
reservation  of  two  townships  in  each  future  state  for 
university  purposes  was  secured,  largely,  through  the  ef- 
forts of  Nathan  Dane,  Rufus  King,  Rufus  Putnam,  and 
Manasseh  Cutler. 

Land  System. — The  beginning  of  the  present  land 
system  of  the  United  States  had  been  made  two  years 
before,  by  act  of  Congress  (May  20,  1785),  under  which 
government  land  was  to  be  surveyed  in  townships  of  six 
miles  square,  laid  off  by  meridian  range  lines  and  parallels 
of  latitude.  Each  section  included  640  acres,  and  each 
township  36  sections,  or  23,040  acres.  This  land  was  to 
be  sold  for  one  dollar  an  acre,  in  tracts  of  not  less  than 
one  entire  section  of  640  acres.  Section  16  of  each  town- 
ship was  to  be  reserved  for  common-school  purposes, 
which  provision  was  secured  by  Rufus  King,  a  member  of 
the  Congressional  committee,  at  the  suggestion  of  Timothy 


40 


HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


Pickering.^  The  committee  report  also  contained  a  res- 
ervation of  one  section  in  each  township  for  the  purposes 
of  religion,  but  this  was  stricken  out  by  Congress.  This 
reservation  of  the  i6th  section  for  common  schools  was 


6 

7 
i8 

5 
8 

17 

4 
9 

t 

3 
10 

15 

2 
II 
14 

I* 
12 
13 

19 
30 

20 
29 

21 
28 

22 

23 

24 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

Diagram  Showing  the  Division  of  a  Township. 
*  Section.  t  School  Section. 

reaffirmed  in  the  land  act  of  July  23,  1787,  and  supple- 
mented by  the  reservation  of  two  entire  townships  in  each 
new  state  to  be  formed  out  of  the  Northwest  Territory, 
for  university  purposes.  The  sale  of  public  lands  was  a 
vexed  question  in  Congress  until  May  20,  1800,  when  a 
land  act  was  passed  on  the  recommendation  of  William 
Henry  Harrison,  then  a  delegate  from  the  Northwest  Ter- 
ritory. Among  other  things,  this  law  provided  that  pub- 
lic lands  should  be  sold  at  two  dollars  an  acre,  but  only 
one  twentieth  was  to  be  paid  down  at  the  time  of  purchase 
the  remainder  to  be  paid  in  installments  running  through 
five  years.  This  act  also  provided  for  the  opening  of  four 
government  land  offices  in  the  western  territory.  Half  a 
century  later  (1848)  Congress  enacted  that  in  states  there- 
after formed  the  36th  section,  in  addition  to  the  i6th  sec- 
tion, should  be  reserved  for  common  school  purposes. 

^  See   McMaster's  "  History  of  the  People   of  the  United  States," 
Vol.  III. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  41 

The  supplementary  act  of  July  23,  1787,  is  often  re- 
ferred to  as  a  part  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  passed  ten  days 
before,  on- July  13th.  It  became  a  precedent  for  the  rule 
afterwards  followed  in  the  organization  of  new  states, 
though  in  a  modified  form  after  1889. 

The  passage  of  this  ordinance  was  hastened,  if  not  ab- 
solutely secured,  by  the  demands  of  the  disbanded  veter- 
ans of  the  Continental  Army,  who  had  been  paid  off  in 
certificates  of  indebtedness  worth  ten  or  twelve  cents  on 
the  dollar.     They  had  returned  to  their  homes  poor. 

In  1786  General  Rufus  Putnam  and  General  Benjamin 
Tupper,  both  veterans  of  the  Revolution,  organized  an  as- 
sociation, under  the  name  of  the  "  Ohio  Company"  and 
issued  a  circular  addressed  to  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 
late  army  who  might  be,  under  the  ordinance  of  Congress, 
entitled  to  lands  in  the  Northwest  Territory.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  Ohio  Company  was  to  raise  a  fund,  not  to  ex- 
ceed one  million  of  dollars,  in  depreciated  continental -cer- 
tificates, and  with  it  to  purchase  and  settle  a  tract  of  land 
in  the  "  Ohio  Country."  Putnam,  Parsons,  and  Manasseh 
Cutler  were  made  directors.  Brigadier  General  Rufus 
Putnam  was  a  graduate  of  a  New  England  common  school 
who  had  been  successively  a  blacksmith,  a  millwright,  an 
engineer,  and  an  able  military  officer  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler  started  in  life  as  a  lawyer, 
then  became  a  clergyman,  an  educator,  and  a  shrewd  busi- 
ness and  political  agent.  Parsons  and  Cutler  went  on  to 
New  York  city  to  make  a  business  proposition  to  the 
Congress  there  in  session. 

The  members  of  Congress,  anxious  to  sell  the  public 
lands,  lent  a  ready  ear  to  the  claims  of  veterans  of  the 
war  who  wished  to  buy  and  settle  on  a  part  of  the  public 
domain.     Cutler  and  Parsons  proposed  to  buy  one  and  a 


42 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


half  million  acres  for  one  million  dollars,  to  be  paid  for 
in  government  certificates  at  par  value. 

But  the  conditions  exacted  were  that  civil  rights  should 
be  guaranteed  in  the  territory,  and  that  slavery  should  be 
prohibited.  The  committee,  consisting  of  Carrington  and 
Lee  of  Virginia,  Nathan  Dane  of  Massachusetts,  Kean  of 
South  Carolina,  and  White  of  New  York,  reported  a  bill 
which  was  amended  by  the  sixth  article,  prohibiting  slavery, 
offered  by  Nathan  Dane,  and  was  passed  by  Congress,  July 
13,  1787,  with  only  one  dissenting  vote,  and  that  vote 
was  from  the  state  of  New  York.  The  states  that  voted 
in  favor  of  the  sixth  article  were  Massachusetts,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia.  When  the  land  contract 
was  finally  concluded  with  the  officers  of  the  Treasury,  it 
included  the  sale  of  five  millions  of  acres  at  two  thirds  of 
a  dollar  an  acre,  of  which  the  Ohio  Company  took  a  mil- 
lion and  a  half  acres,  and  other  land  operators  secured 
three  and  a  half  millions  of  acres.^  As  United  States 
certificates  of  debt  were  worth  at  that  time  only  twelve 
cents  on  a  dollar,  the  cash  price  in  this  great  land  transac- 
tion was  eight  or  nine  cents  an  acre.  But  it  proved  a 
good  bargain  for  the  United  States. 

After  the  passage  of  this  Magna  Charta  of  land  ordi- 
nances, the  disbanded  veterans  of  the  Revolution  took  up 
their  peaceful  line  of  march  into  the  wilderness  of  the 
Northwest  Territory.  The  first  band  of  settlers  from 
New  England  numbered  only  forty-seven,  not  quite  half 
the  number  of  Pilgrims  that  landed  at  Plymouth  167 
years  before.  Under  the  leadership  of  Rufus  Putnam 
this   little   company   of   pioneers   started    in  November, 

1  For  details  of  this  transaction,  see  "  McMaster's  Historj^  of  the 
People  of  the  United  States,"  Vol.  I. 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  43 

wintered  thirty  miles  above  Pittsburg  on  the  banks  of  the 
Youghiogheny  River,  built  a  flat  boat  which  they  named 
the  "■  Mayflower,"  and  early  in  April,  floated  down  the 
Monongahela  into  the  Ohio,  and  landed  in  the  wilderness 
of  the  West,  as  their  ancestors  had  settled  the  wilderness 
in  the  East.  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler  soon  despatched  a 
second  party  of  settlers  who  followed  in  the  wake  of 
Putnam  and  united  with  the  first  expedition  in  the  set- 
tlement of  Marietta  in  Ohio.  These  pioneers  carried 
town  government  and  the  common  school  into  the  North- 
west Territory  and  founded  a  "■  Greater  New  England  "  in 
the  heart  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  eastern  contin- 
gent was  swelled  by  veterans  of  the  Revolution  from  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  It  is 
estimated  that  ten  thousand  emigrants  poured  into  the 
Ohio  region  during  the  year  1788;  and  in  ten  years  it 
was  fortified  by  log  schoolhouses  and  made  sure  forever 
to  free  labor. 

SCHOOLS   IN   THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY. 

Ohio  became  a  state  in  1802  ;  Indiana  in  1816;  Illinois 
in  1818;  Michigan  in  1837;  and  Wisconsin  in  1848.  In 
these  states  the  school  land  reservations  were  not  immedi- 
ately available,  but  the  recognition  of  public  schools  by 
the  general  government  greatly  stimulated  the  educational 
efforts  of  pioneer  settlers.  The  money  to  pay  the  first 
teachers  at  Marietta,  in  Ohio,  was  sent  on  from  Massa- 
chusetts by  Dr.  Manasseh  Cutler.  The  first  state  school 
law  in  Ohio  (1821),  was  modeled  after  that  of  New  York. 
It  provided  for  the  subdivision  of  townships  into  districts, 
the  appointment  of  school  committee  men,  and  the  levy- 
ing of  rate  bills.     Four  years  later  (1825),  the  law  was  re- 


44 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


vised,  and  provision  was  made  for  levying  a  county  tax 
for  school  purposes.  In  1837  a  state  superintendent  of 
schools  was  appointed  by  the  legislature.  In  1853  a  law 
was  enacted  making  each  township  a  school  district,  and 
creating  a  township  board  of  education.  This  board  was 
authorized  to  establish  a  high  school  in  each  township 
upon  a  majority  vote  of  the  people,  and  to  levy  a  tax  for 
its  support  not  to  exceed  two  mills  on  the  dollar.  As  a 
result  of  this  town  provision,  Ohio  ranks  as  one  of  the 
foremost  states  in  respect  to-  the  number  and  excellence 
of  high  schools.  The  other  states  of  this  territory  de- 
veloped their  school  systems  later  in  time,  but  after  the 
manner  of  Ohio.  All  had  the  usual  number  of  private 
and  denominational  schools  and  colleges,  but  these  were 
soon  overshadowed  by  the  rapidly  developed  common 
schools  and  high  schools.  Here,  as  in  all  the  other  new 
states  of  the  West  and  the  Pacific  Coast,  public  education 
proceeded  from  the  common  school  upward  to  the  high 
school,  and,  finally,  to  the  college^and  the_free  state^  uni- 
versity.  The  precedents  of  both  Old  England  and  New  ' 
England  were  in  a  measure  reversed.  Up  to  this  time  it 
had  been  generally  believed  that  the  only  possible  scheme 
of  education  began  with  the  foundation  of  the  college  or 
the  university  for  educating  the  professional  classes,  which 
was  afterwards  to  be  extended  downward  through  the 
Latin  grammar  school  to  the  parish  school,  the  charity 
school,  or  the  common  school  for  the  mass  of  the  people. 

SCHOOL  LEGISLATION   IN  NEW  ENGLAND. 

Taking  up  once  more  the  subject  of  common  schools  in 
New  England,  we  find  that  the  Massachusetts  law  of  1789 
required  ''  every  town  of  one  hundred  families  or  upwards 
to  maintain  one  school  six  months  in  the  year,  or  two  or 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 


45 


more  schools  for  terms  that  should  together  equal  six 
months."  Towns  of  two  hundred  families  and  upwards 
were  also  required  to  maintain  a  grammar  school. 
This  law  required  instruction  in  ''  orthography,  reading, 
writing,  the  English  language,  geography,  and  decent 
behavior."  It  ordained  that  the  masters  or  mistresses  of 
schools  for  primary  instruction  should  be  approved  in 
respect  to  character  and  qualifications.  It  provided  for 
official  examinations  of  schools  by  the  ministers,  the 
selectmen,  or  a  special  school  committee.  It  authorized 
the  selectmen  to  divide  the  town  into  school  districts. 
This  law  was  soon  amended  (1800),  by  empowering  the 
district  to  levy  a  tax  for  building  a  schoolhouse  ;  was 
again  amended  (1817),  by  making  the  district  a  corporation, 
with  power  to  sue  and  be  sued,  etc.  ;  was  further  amended 
(1827),  by  requiring  towns  having  districts  to  choose  for 
each  district  a  *'  prudential  committee  man,"  who  should 
have  the  care  of  school  property  and  the  power  to  ap- 
point teachers.  The  law  allowed  these  committee  men  to 
be  elected  by  vote  of  the  electors  in  special  district  elec- 
tions, or  to  be  appointed  in  the  general  town  meeting. 
Most  of  the.  districts  preferred  to  elect  their  own  com- 
mittee man,  who  held  office  for  the  "  term  of  one  year." 
Thus  the  school  district  became  a  political  unit,  subject 
only  to  the  general  state  law.  The  amendments  of  1827 
provided  that  the  district  schools  should  be  maintained 
by  a  compulsory  town  tax.  Notwithstanding  some  de- 
fects, this  law  contained  several  foundation  principles, 
which  were  subsequently  adopted  by  the  other  New  Eng- 
land states,  by  New  York,  and  by  the  Western  states. 
In  Massachusetts  it  was  disastrous  to  many  of  the  original 
town  "  Latin  grammar  schools,"  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  led  to  the  foundation  of  academies.     If  these  new  insti- 


46         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

tutions  fitted  fewer  boys  for  college,  they  recognized  the 
higher  education  of  girls,  and  took  a  strong  hold  on  the 
common  people.  The  academies,  when  their  usefulness 
came  to  an  end,  were  superseded  by  high  schools  for  both 
girls  and  boys,  with  a  classical  course  for  some  pupils  and 
an  English  course  for  those  who  desired  it.  In  fact,  the 
experiments  of  the  people  under  this  law  were  only  in- 
cidents in  the  great  wave  of  American  spirit  that  swept 
over  the  whole  country.  There  had  prevailed  a  strong 
tendency  to  local  self-government,  as  opposed  to  central- 
ized power.  On  this  point  William  T.  Harris  remarks  : 
"  The  central  power  had  been  largely  theocratic,  or 
ecclesiastical,  at  the  beginning.  The  reaction  against 
ecclesiastical  control  went  too  ifar  in  the  direction  of  in- 
dividualism. The  farthest  swing  of  the  pendulum  in  this 
direction  was  reached  in  1828,  when  the  districts  obtained 
exclusive  control  of  the  schools  in  all  matters  except  the 
examination  of  teachers." 

In  1795  New  York  provided  for  the  election  of  three 
district  school  trustees,  having  power  to  appoint  teachers, 
build  schoolhouses,  etc.  California,  in  185 1,  made  a  sim- 
ilar provision,  which  is  still  suited  to  existing  conditions. 
In  variously  modified  forms  like  provisions  are  now  found 
in  most  of  the  states  of  the  West  and  the  Pacific  Coast. 

Town  or  County. — In  New  England  the  town,  from  the 
beginning,  was  the  unit  of  local  civil  government,  the 
county  being_used  for  judicial  pu£poses_only^  In  the 
Southern  states  the__rr>nni-y_was  the^unit  of  government^ 
the^town  being_xinly  an  election  district  and  the  jurisdic- 
tion  of  a  justice^f  the  peace^  These  reversed  conditions, 
though  ifT  modified  forms,  still  exist  at  the  present  time. 
In  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  Western  states  there 
is  a  compromise  of   these  two  extremes.     In  a  thickly 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  47 

settled  manufacturing  state,  cities,  villages,  and  towns 
are  multiplied,  and  town  government  becomes  relatively- 
strong.  In  sparsely  settled  agricultural  states,  the  county 
government  dominates  that  of  the  town.  It  is  evident 
that  the  school  system  must  of  necessity  be  developed 
along  the  lines  of  the  civil  government.  The  law  of  1789 
ill  Its  amended  forms  served  its  purpose  in  Massachusetts 
for  half  a  century,  but  as  population  became  dense,  as 
cities  and  villages  sprang  up,  the  tendency  grew  strong  to 
revert  to  the  original  town  schools  under  control  of  town 
government.  The  other  New  England  states  at  various 
later  periods  followed  the  lead  of  Massachusetts. 

But  under  different  civil  conditions  in  the  Middle, 
the  Western,  and  the  Pacific  states,  the  district  schools 
with  local  school  trustees  grew  strong,  and  they  still 
nourish  with  undiminished  vigor.  In  twenty  states  dis- 
trict school  trustees  are  elected  by  direct  vote  of  the  elec- 
tors in  district  elections.^  But  they  are  now  under  the 
supervision  of  county  superintendents,  or  county  boards 
of  education,  and  are  governed  by  specific  provisions  of 
state  law.  In  most  of  these  states  a  heavy  state  property 
tax  is  levied  for  the  support,  in  part,  of  comipon  schools. 

Schools  in  Boston. — Turning  again  to  schools  in  Boston 
we  find  that  as  late  as  1818  it  was  a  law  of  the  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  that  "  No  youth  shall  be  sent  to 
the  grammar  schools  unless  they  shall  have  learned  in 
some  other  school,  or  in  some  other  way,  to  read  the  Eng- 
lish language,  by  spelling  the  same." 

"  The  laws  likewise  provided,"  says  Wightman  in  his  "  Annals  of  the 
Primary  Schools  of  Boston,"  "  for  the  establishment  of  preparatory 
schools  where  grammar  was  not  taught ;  but  to  this  time  (181 8)  there 

1  See  "  The  Social  Unit  in  the  Public  School  System  of  the  United 
States."     Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  Vol.  2,  1895-96. 


48         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

were  no  public  schools  in  Boston  where  children  could  be  qualitied  for 
admission  to  the  '  Grammar  Schools.'  The  age  at  which  they  were 
eligible  was  fixed  at  seven  years,  and  but  few  were  ever  admitted 
under  that  age.  It  was  consequently  necessary  for  parents  to  send 
their  children  io  private  schools." 

Boston  in  the  year  iSiowasa  city  of  33,250  inhabitants. 
'*  There  are  seven  public  schools,  viz. :  one  Latin  gram- 
mar school,  three  English  grammar  schools,  and  three  for 
writing  and  arithmetic,  supported  wholly  at  the  expense 
of  the  town."-^ 

It  was  in  18 18,  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight  years  after 
the  settlement  of  Boston,  and  four  years  before  Boston 
became  an  incorporated  city,  that  the  selectmen  of  the 
town  appointed,  in  answer  to  a  petition  from  the  people, 
a  Primary  School  Committee  to  establish  and  control 
primary  schools  for  children  under  seven  years  of  age. 
Such  schools  were  soon  opened  and  made  free  to  both  boys 
and  girls  between  four  and  sev^nyears  of  age.  "  At  a  legal 
meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  fflh^wn  of  Boston,  held  at 
Faneuil  Hall,  on  Monday,  the  3isl^^  of  May,  A.D.  1819, 
the  following  report  was  read,  accepS»and  ordered  to  be 
printed  and  distributed  for  the  information  of  the  inhabit- 
ants. Attest,  Thomas  Clark,  Town  Clerk."  So  reads  the 
town  record.  This  report  of  the  committee  shows  that 
they  had  established  twenty  schools  and  admitted  to  them 
over  1 100  children.  The  report  further  shows  that  wo- 
men were  appointed  as  teachers,  and  that  in  most  of  the 
schools  the  girls  were  taught  knitting  or  sewing  as  well 
as  reading.  The  town  of  Boston  at  this  time  had  about 
40,000  inhabitants.  But  however  slow  in  providing  for 
free_primary  schools,  BostonJinally  took  the  lead  in  main- 
taining free  high  schools;  in  supporting  modern  graded 


^  Morse's  Geography,  Boston,  181 2. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 


49 


grRm<r>'-^f^£JTj22Li-^^  priin;^ry  scliools  ;  and  ill  building 
substantial  and  well  planned  schoolhouses.  In  185 1 
Nathan  Bishop  became  the  first  city  superintendent  of 
schools.  He  was  succeeded  by  John  D.  Philbrick,  who 
held  the  office  for  eighteen  years,  and  by  his  wise  admin- 
istration brought  the  Boston  schools  to  a  high  degree  of 
excellence. 

Parish  Schools. — Qonnecticut  was  the  only  New  Eng- 
land state  that  made  the  unfortunate  experiment  of  sur- 
rendering, in  part,  the  control  of^public-schools  into  th<^ 
hands  of  '*  school  societies."  This  experiment  began  in 
-VjvThy  makiTig  the  church  parish  a  school  district,  and 
by  putting  into  the  hands  of  ''  school  societies  "  the  local 
management  of  schools,  and.  school  moneys.  These 
"  societies  "  were  not  strictly  sectarian,  but  they  had  strong 
church  affiliations.  When  the  state  had  secured  a  school 
fund  of  one  million  of  dollars  derived  from  the  sale  of 
state  lands  in  the  Western  Reserve,  the  income  of  this 
fund  became  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  school  "  so- 
cieties." Under  the  statute  of  1794,  the  parish  society 
schools  received  their /r<?  rata  of  the  state  school  moneys 
in  common  with  town  and  district  schools,  but  for  the  sole 
use  of  the  schools,  the  parishes  being  compelled  to  make 
special  application  to  the  legislature  for  the  use  of  any 
of  the  money  for  church  purposes.  This  parish_sodety 
scheme  lingered  along  until  the  middle  of  the  century, 
^when  It  "diedout.  But  rnean  while,  The  common  schools 
of  this  state  had  fallen  below  the  "standard^lnamtamed  m 
other  New  England  states. 


COMMON   SCHOOLS   IN  NEW   YORK. 

It  was  not  until  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
that  the  state  of  New  York  took  up  in  earnest  the  organ- 

AM.   PUB.  SCH. — 4 


50         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

ization  of  common  schools  understate  control.  In  1795 
Governor  George  Clinton  urged  the  establishment  of  com- 
mon schools  throughout  the  state,  and  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  state  legislature  "  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging 
and  maintaining  schools  in  the  several  cities  and  towns  in 
the  state,  in  which  the  children  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
state  shall  be  instructed  in  the  English  language,  or  be 
taught  English  grammar,  arithmetic,  mathematics,  and 
such  other  branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful  and 
necessary  to  complete  a  good  English  education."  Under 
this  law  each  town  was  to  elect  three  or  more  school  com- 
missioners, empowered  to  license  teachers  and  apportion 
public  moneys.  The  people  in  each  school  district  elected 
local  school  trustees  empowered  to  employ  teachers  and 
provide  for  schools.  This  act  also  levied  a  state  tax  for 
the  support  of  schools,  to  be  continued  for  five  years.  This 
beginning  was  supplemented  by  the  act  of  181 2,  which 
required  that  every  town  should  be  divided  into  school 
districts ;  that  each  town  should  elect  from  one  to  six  in- 
spectors, who  with  the  commissioners  were  to  examine 
teachers  and  supervise  the  schools.  The  law  also  created 
the  office  of  state  superintendent  of  schools  ;  and  Gideon 
Hawley,  born  in  Connecticut,  but  a  graduate  of  Union 
College,  N.  Y.,  was  the  first  man  appointed  to  fill  the  place. 
George  Clinton,  of  Scotch-Irish  stock,  held  the  ofifice  of 
governor  of  New  York  for  seven  successive  terms  of  three 
years  each,  and  during  the  whole  period  of  twenty-one 
years  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  for  common  schools. 
The  law  of  181 2  annually  appropriated  $50,000  to  be  dis- 
tributed/r^  rata  among  the  counties  of  the  state,  and 
authorized  the  levy  of  a  county  tax  equal  to  the  state 
apportionment. 

County  superintendents  were  appointed  under  the  law 


EARL  Y  AMERICAN  SCHO  OLS  5 1 

of  1 841.  A  succession  of  able  governors  and  secretaries 
of  state  carried  on  the  good  work.  The  state  school  laws 
became  models  for  the  new  states  of  the  Northwest.  But 
in  New  York  city,  which  was  excepted  from  some  of  the 
vital  ])rovisions  of  the  state  law,  the  schools  under  the 
control  of  "  The  Public  School  Society  "  remained  in  a 
condition  of  arrested  development  for  many  years. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  educators  in  New  York 
during  the  formative  period  of  common  schools  was  Dr. 
Eliphalet  Nott,  who  became  president  of  Union  College 
in  1804.  Under  his  wise  management  a  feeble  denomi- 
national college  became  in  a  few  years  ''  an  American  un- 
sectarian  Christian  University."  There  went  out  from 
this  institution  a  long  array  of  educators  and  public  men. 
"  It  is  doubtful,"  says  Dr.  Mayo,  "  if  any  American  col- 
lege ever  sent  forth  a  larger  number  of  influential  men  in 
public  and  professional  life  than  Union  during  the  sixty- 
two  years'  presidency  of  Dr.  Nott.  In  Governor  William 
H.  Seward  and  in  JohnC.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  State  and 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  he  gave  to  New  York  the 
most  important  agents  in  the  organization  of  the  common- 
school  system  of  the  commonwealth." 

New  York  City. — The  schools  of  NewYork  city  had 
a  slow  and_co^p1ey  t^vnj^ii-mr^  At  theTIrne  of  surrender 
to  the  English  (1664)  there  were  in  the  town  of  New 
Amsterdam  three  public  schools,  a  "  Latin  grammar 
school,"  and  ten  or  twelve  private  schools.  The  Dutch 
schools  were  finally  fused  with  English,  but  up  to  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  War  public  schools  made  little 
progress,  while  parish  and  private  schools  grew  strong. 
In  18 1 3  a  special  state  law  for  New  York  city  directed  the 
payment  of  state  school  moneys  to  *'  the  trustees  of  the 
Free  School  Society  and  such  incorporated  religious  so- 


52 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


cieties  as  now  support,  or  shall  hereafter  establish,  charity- 
schools  within  the  said  city."  ''  The  Society  for  Estab- 
lishing Free  Schools  in  the  City  of  New  York  for  the 
education  of  such  poor  children  as  do  not  belong  to  or 
are  not  provided  for  by  any  Religious  Society  "  had  been 
chartered  in  1805,  and  De  Witt  Clinton  was  elected  as  its 
first  president.  It  established  (1806-15)  three  large  schools 
on  the  *'  Lancastrian  System,"  an  experiment  imported 
from  England.  In  1826  it  was  rechartered  under  the  ab- 
breviated title  of  "  The  Public  School  Society,"  under 
which  name  it  gradually  gained  practical  control  of  the 
city  public  schools.  It  received  tuition  fees,  public  funds, 
and  private  contributions  for  the  support  of  its  schools. 
This  "  society,"  though  not  strictly  sectarian,  had  strong 
Protestant  ecclesiastical  affiliations,  and  this  fact  led  to  a 
demand  that  the  Catholic  parochial  schools  should  share 
di  pro  rata  division  of  the  school  funds.  After  much  con- 
troversy, the  state  legislature  decided  against  such  division 
of  the  school  fund,  and  passed  the  law  of  1842,  by  which 
the  public  schools  of  New  York  city  were  placed  under 
the  direct  control  of  the  civil  government.  This  law 
provided  for  the  election  of  a  New  York  city  board  of 
education  ;  and  for  local  ward  school  trustees,  and  the 
establishment  of  schools  directly  under  the  control  of  the 
civil  government.  In  1853  the  ''society  schools,"  which 
still  maintained  a  lingering  existence,  were  finally  and 
effectually  fused  into  modern  public  schools  by  state 
enactment.  But  the  system  included  only  primary  and 
grammar  schools,  with  the  exception  of  one  free  academy 
for  boys.  This  famous  free  academy,  established  in  1849, 
was  chartered  in  1866  under  the  name  of  "  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York."  It  is  a  part  of  the  public  school 
system  of  the  city,  and  is  supported  entirely  by  taxation. 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOL^        ^T"^        $?> 

Tuition,  books,  and  stationery  are  free.  It  stands  as  the 
first  fully  organized  free  public  college  in  the  United 
States,  under  municipal  government  and  support.  It  has 
a  strong  pedagogical  department.  Its  counterpart  is 
found  in  the  "  New  York  Female  College  "  (1870),  which- 
is  a  high-grade  normal  school  for  young  women.  In 
1867  rate  bills  for  the  partial  support  of  rural  common 
schools  were  abolished  and  the  state  property  tax  was 
raised  to  one  mill  and  a  quarter  on  a  dollar. 

NewJ^rSfiJT. — This  colony  was  settled  by  Swedes, 
English  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists,  and  Quakers, 
who  brought  with  them  preachers  and  teachers  and  estab- 
lished churches  and  schools  side  by  side.  As  early  as 
1676  public  schools  maintained  by  subscription  began  ^o 
be  organized.  In  1693  there  appears  on  the  statute  book 
an  act  which  authorizes,  by  local  option,  the  people  of  any 
town,  "  by  the  consent  and  agreement  of  the  major  part 
of  the  inhabitants,"  to  employ  a  teacher  and  collect  tuition. 
The  College  of  New  Jersey  (now  Princeton)  had  its  begin- 
ning in  1747.  In  1 8 16  a  state  school  fund  was  established, 
and  in  1820  there  was  enacted  the  first  general  law  au- 
thorizing the  township  to  raise  money  for  the  support  of 
schools.  In  the  general  development  of  a  common-school 
system  this  state  followed  the  lead  of  New  York,  and 
Dela\varertliat  of  Pennsylvania^  " 

PROGRESS   IN   PENNSYLVANIA. 


The  revised  state  constitution  (1790)  contained  a  sec- 
tion which  reads  as  follows  :  "  The  legislature  shall,  as 
soon  as  conveniently  may  be,  provide  by  law  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  schools  throughout  the  state  in  such  man- 
ner that   the  poor  may  be  taught  gratis.      The  arts. and 


54         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

sciences  shall  be  promoted,  in  one  or  more  seminaries  of 
learning."  It  was  not  convenient  for  the  legislature  to 
carry  this  section  into  effect  until  twelve  years  later  (1802), 
when  a  law  was  enacted  entitled  :  ''  An  act  to  provide  for 
the  education  of  the  poor  gratis."  This  law  provided  that 
parents  too  poor  to  pay  tuition  fees,  could  send  them  to 
school  at  public  expense,  on  application  to  the  proper 
authorities.  Slightly  amended  in  1809,  it  remained  in 
force  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  But  the 
"  P^LUpe^  3.ct  "  was  unpgpidar.  People  disliked  to  declare 
their  poverty,  and  children  were  unwilling  to  be  called 
*'  charity  scholars."  Meanwhile,  denominational  acade- 
mies and  seminaries  were  aided  by  appropriations  of  pub- 
lic moneys.  All  these  subsidized  institutions  were  arrayed 
in  open  hostility  to  a  system  ot  Amencaii  conijiion^schools. 

^npor  forty  years  after  the  organization  of  the  state 
government,  there  were  no  laws  enacted  for  the  creation 
of  a  public-school  system.  ^  Nearly  all  the  educational 
legislation  was  in  favor  of  academies  and  seminaries. 
During  this  period  many  acts  were  passed  favorable  to  these 
institutions,  and  nearly  $300,000  were  spent  in  their  aid. 
In  1833  there  were  two  universities,  eight  colleges,  and 
fifty  academies,  all  of  which  had  been  liberally  aided  by 
the  state." 

It  was  not  until  1834  that  the  sfate^f  Pennsylvania 
secured  an'"e?fectiye^chool  lav^\  THeconservatives  and 
sectarians  made  desperate  attempts  to  repeal  this  act  at 
the  next  session  of  the  legislature  (1835),  and  the  repeal 
was  defeated  only  by  the  heroic  efforts  of  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  then  a  member  of  the  legislature.  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  born  to  poverty  in  Vermont,  began  his  education 

1  See  "Bulletin  of  Information"  No.  9,  1890,  by  Dr.  Frank  W. 
Blackmar. 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHO  OLS  5  5 

in  a  country  school,  continued  it  in  a  country  academy, 
worked  his  way  through  Dartmouth  College,  emigrated  to 
Pennsylvania,  succeeded  in  business,  and  represented  his 
adopted  state  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 

The  ''Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania"  became 
fully  established  in  1862.  It  had  its  beginning  in  the 
"  Farmer's  High  School "  (1854)  and  changed  its  name 
when  the  state  came  to  its  aid  to  the  extent  of  $100,000. 
The  land  grants  of  1862  came  to  its  aid,  and  its  name  was 
changed  to  "  Pennsylvania  State  College." 

Philadelphia  Schools. — The  city  of  Philadelphia  was 
slow  in  providing  schools  for  the  children  of  the  common 
people.  Private  schoolsanTsociety  sch'ooTFTong  stood 
in  the^ay  of  free  public  schools.  In  18 12  the  common 
council  was  authorized  by  state  law  to  establish  common 
schools,  but  nothing  was  done  until  five  years  later,  when 
the  ''  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Public  Economy  "  was 
organized.  Public  schools  modeled  after  the  Lancastrian 
(monitorial)  system  of  England  were  finally  established. 
These  schools  for  the  poor  were  cheap,  but  not  good.  At 
this  time  the  embargo  and  the  war  with  England  (1812- 
1 5)  had  crippled  the  commerce  of  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
Boston,  and  all  the  other  seaport  towns,  and  thousands  of 
their  inhabitants  had  been  reduced  to  poverty.  When 
"hard  times  "  came  on,  the  prisons  of  all  these  cities  were 
crowded  with  thousands  of  debtors.  The  semi-barbarous 
English  laws  of  imprisonment  for  debt  were  established 
during  colonial  times,  and  were  kept  on  the  statute  books 
of  all  the  states  long  after  this  period. 

"  By  an  old  law  which  went  back  to  the  days  when  Pennsylvania 
was  a  colony,"  says  McMaster,^  "  magistrates  were  allowed  cognizance, 

^  McMaster's  "  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States."  Vol.  IV% 


56         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

without  appeal,  of  debts  under  forty  shillings  or  five  dollars  and  thirty- 
three  cents  in  amount.  When  the  indebtedness  exceeded  that  paltry 
sum  the  debtor  was  allowed  a  stay  of  proceedings.  But  no  such  hap- 
piness awaited  the  poor  wretches  who  owed  a  sixpence  or  a  shilling, 
and  who  each  year  were  dragged  to  prison  by  thousands,  on  what 
were  truly  called  "  spite  actions."  Murderers  and  thieves,  forgers  and 
counterfeiters,  were  fed,  clothed,  and  cared  for  at  the  expense  of  the 
state  ;  but  for  the  unhappy  man  whose  sole  offence  was  his  inability 
to  pay  a  trifling  debt  of  a  few  cents,  no  such  provision  was  made.  The 
food  he  ate,  the  sheets  that  covered  him,  the  medicine  he  took — nay, 
the  very  rags  he  wrapped  about  his  sores — were  provided,  if  provided 
at  all,  by  his  friends,  by  the  public,  or  by  some  Humane  Society  or 
Society  for  Alleviating  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons." 

In  1794,  this  law  was  amended  by  ordering  that  the  prison  inspector 
should  provide  fuel  and  blankets  for  the  poorest  prisoners,  make  an 
allowance  of  seven  cents  a  day  for  food  and  charge  it  to  the  creditor, 
but  the  main  part  of  the  statute  remained  in  force. 

Things  were  no  better  in  the  city  of  New  York.  In 
18 1 7  there  were  1984  debtors  confined  during  the  year  ; 
and  of  these  729  were  imprisoned  for  debts  less  than 
$25.  During  the  period  of  hard  times  one  in  every 
seven  of  the  inhabitants  in  this  city  was  wholly  or  in  part 
supported  by  charity.  In  Boston  the  condition  was  quite 
as  bad.  During  the  fifteen  months  from  January  i,  1820, 
to  April  I,  1822,  3492  men  and  women  were  imprisoned 
for  debt,  of  which  number  2000  were  thrown  into  jail  for 
sums  less  than  $20.  One  debtor  had  been  in  prison  for 
thirty  years.  Another  froze  to  death  in  the  jail  at  Cam- 
bridge. In  each  of  these  three  great  cities  of  this  country, 
the  jails  and  penitentiaries  were  exceeded  in  wretchedness 
and  filth  only  by  the  debtor  prisons  in  London,  so  real- 
istically pictured  by  Charles  Dickens. 

But  such  awful  conditions  could  not  long  continue. 
One  by  one,  Pennsylvania,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and 
Massachusetts,  in  the  period  from  18 17  to  1825,  prohibited 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  .  ^y 

imprisonment_for-sm all  .debts  in  sums  varying  from  thir- 
teen to  twenty-five  dollars.  After  this  time,  the  constitu- 
tions of  the  new  states  of  the  West  prohibited  imprison- 
ment for  small  debts, — an  evidence  of  a  great  advance  in 
civilization. 

During  the  period  of  demoralization,  the  cities  were  full 
of  dramshops,  and  drunkenness  was  a  prevailing  vice. 
Lotteries  were  universal.  They  were  authorized  by  state 
law,  and  even  started  in  aid  of  colleges,  churches,  schools, 
and  many  other  purposes.  But  at  length  the  tide  of  re- 
form set  in.  The  bloody  criminal  code  of  England  which 
had  been  fastened  on  the  colonies  was  ameliorated,  and 
the  number  of  crimes  punishable  with  death  was  reduced 
from  fifteen  and  thirty  to  two  or  three.  The  bands  of 
idle  boys  prowling  in  the  streets  for  evil,  were  gradually 
gathered  into  public  schools.  This  episode  in  the  histoiy 
of  the  civil  and  social  conditions  of  that  period  shows 
why  common  schools  made  but  little  headway  in  the 
great  cities,  and  why  state  legislation  was  so  long 
delayed. 

The  city  of  Philadel^hjaLJinally  establishedL^common 
schools,   which   educated   the   children    of    the   common 


people  without  distinction  of  class,  caste,  or  charity,  but 
the  evolution  was  sIoav.  The  city  remained .  without  a 
superintendent  of  public  schools  until  1883,  when  the 
office  was  created  and  James  McAllister  was  appointed  to 
reorganize  and  modernize  the  city  school  system.  He  did 
the  work  well. 

One  of  the  most  notable  educational  bequests  ever  made 
in  this  country  was  the  foundation  of  Girard  College, 
with  an  endowment  of  seve3l__m  ill  ions  of  donars^_by_ 
Ste2hen_&rard.  It  was  established  as  a  home  for  orphan 
boys  where  they  should  be  trained  and  educated  for  the 


58         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

practitalpursuits  ^LJilg-     The    course    of   instruction 

adopted  for  Girard   College  was  the  Jirst  practical  and 

jDotential    protest    against  the    conventional  educational 

formalism  of  those  days.  ^  =^- 


EDUCATION   IN   THE   SOUTHERN   STATES. 

Virginia.  —  We  have  seen  that,  during  the  colonial 
period,  education  was  provided  for  in  Virginia  after  the 
manner  in  England,  by  means  of  parish  schools,  private 
schools,  academies,  and  the  endowed  College  of  William 
and  Mary.  Though  Jefferson  failed  in  his  plans jto,pro- 
vide  schools  for  the  education  of  the  common  people,  he 
succeeded^,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  untiring  efforts, 
in_organiziti£_the  University  of  Virginia,  which  was  opened 
in  1825,  one  year  before  the  death""of  its  illustrious 
founder.  The  distinguishing  features  of  this  institution 
were  worthy  of  the  great  statesman  who  planned  them. 
The  University  provided  for  elective  courses  of  study  ; 
the  honor  system  of  discipline  ;  the  voluntary  system  of 
religion ;  and  the  prohibition  of  merely  honorary  titles. 

The  state  school  law  of  1820,  however,  provided  that 
the  county  could  be  divided  into  s^hooldistricts  of  six 
miles  square.  If  the  people  of  the  district  raised  three 
fifths  of  the  sum  required  to  build  a  schoolhouse,  the  re- 
maining two  fifths  might  be  appropriated  from  the  state 
"  literary  fund."  But  the  small  income, — $45,000  a  year 
from  the  interest  of  the  state  school  fund, — could  do  but 
little  in  establishing  a  public-school  system.  In  the  west- 
ern part  of  this  state  the  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians — those 
"  Puritans  of  the  South  " — supported  their  church  schools 
with  their  accustomed  zeal.  From  these  people  sprang 
the  Breckenridges,  the    McDowells,  the   Pickenses,  and 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 


59 


many  other  prominent  families  in  the  South.  Emigrants 
of  this  sturdy  stock  poured  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
in  early  days,  and  became  prominent  in  fighting  the 
Indians  and  in  establishing  schools. 

A  century  after  the  rejection  of  Jefferson's  plans  for 
p^ublic  schools, — at  the  close  of  a  war  greater  than  that  of 
the  Revolution, — Virginia  fell  into  line  and  established  a 
system  of  American  free  public  schools. 

Most  of  the  other  Southern  states  followed  the  lead  of 


Virginia.  Efforts  were  made  (1810-30),  to  secure  State 
School  Funds,  the  interest  of  which  should  be  applied  to 
said  rural  public  schools  and  subsidize  county  academies 
Several  states  attempted  to  establish  schools  for  educating 
^'the  children  of  the  poor."  Maryland  subsidized  from  a 
scanty  school  fund  a  small  number  of  county  academies 
of  the  classical  type.  The  city  of  Baltimore  experimented 
with  a  Lancastrian  school  in  1820;  made  in  1830  a 
beginning  of  public  schools;  and  in  1839  opened  a  high 
school. 

South  Carolina.  —  South  Carolina,  in  1801,  established 
the  CoUegeof  SouthCarolina,  appropriated  $50,000  for 
J?uildmgs,  and  $6000  annually  for  its  support.  The 
academies  and  private  schools  in  Charleston  were  good, 
but,  prior  to  1730,  there  were  no  grammar  schools  in  the 
state,  and  in  1776  there  were  only  five.  The  Huguenots 
and  Scotch-Irish  that  settled  there  were  active  in  support 
of  education,  and  both  races  stamped  their  impress  on  the 
educational,  social,  and  political  institutions  of  the  state 
and  the  nation.  The  first  public  school  movementjiithis_ 
state  was  made  by'anact  of  the  legislature  (181 1),  which 
created  a  fiee-school  fund  withThe^roviso  "  that  the  use 
of  this  fund  should  be  confined  to  educating  the  children 
of  the  poor  in  case  it  was  not  adequate  for  all."     The  few 


6o         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

schools  that  were  established  under  this  act  were  made 
unpopular  by  the  charity  proviso.  '*  The  annual  appro- 
priation by  the  state,  which,  for  a  period  of  forty  years, 
averaged  $37,000  a  year,"  says  Dr.  Mayo,  ''  was  of  itself  a 

.  pittance  for  the  education  of  at  least  50,000  children  and 
youth  in  need  of  elementary  schooling."  In  1868  the 
new  constitution  provided  for  a  uniform  system  of  public 
schools  supported  by  taxation. 

Georgia.  —  Georgia,  the  latest  settled  of  the  thirteen 
original  states  (1732),  had  a  comparatively  slow  growth 
both  in  population  and  schools.  The  English  settlers 
were  reinforced  by  large  numbers  of  Scotch-Irish  Presby- 
terians, and  the  usual  number  of  Episcopal  and  Presby- 
terian parish  schools  and  denominational  academies  were 
opened,  as  in  other  Southern  states.  In  1784  the  Uni- 
versity of_Georgia  was  endowed  by  a  state  grant  of  40,- 
^oo^res  of  wild  lands,  worth  perhaps  a  thousand  dol- 
lars;  and  a  land  grant  of  1000  acres  was  offered  to  each 
county  to  aid  in  opening  an  academy.  Most  of  the  in- 
come from  a  small  state  school  fund  was  used  in  subsidiz- 
ing academies,  seminaries,  and  other  private  institutions, 
leaving  but  a  pittance  to  the  elementary  schools  for  teach- 
ing "  indigent  children "  to  read  and  write.  Richard 
Malcolm  Johnson  has  written  a  graphic  history  of  early 
schools  in  middle  Georgia,  which  is  well  worth  reading  by 
the  historical  student.^ 

North  Carolina.  —  North  Carolina  secu red  j^state  school 

^iujid  (1825-40)  of  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  then  dis- 
tributed the  annual  income  in  aid  of  county  district 
schools,  thus  making  a  nearer  approach  to  common  schools 
1-]Tan_airy_pther  Southern  state.  This  state"was  strong"" 
in  small  private  incorporated  academies.  During  the 
^  See  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1894-95,  Vol.  2. 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHO  OLS  6 1 

period  from  1760  to  1825,  more  than  150  of  these 
academies  were  incorporated.  Into  the  middle  and 
western  parts  of  this  state  and  the  Piedmont  region  there 
was  a  steady  stream  of  Scotch-Irish  settlers,  and  of  Ger- 
mans and  Quakers  from  Pennsylvania.  These  Scotch- 
Irish  Presbyterians,  Moravians,  Lutherans,  and  Friends 
set  up  their  churches  and  church  schools  and  maintained 
both  with  great  zeal.  The  University  of  North  Carolina 
was  chartered  in  1789  and  opened  in  1795!  It  is  well  to 
remember  that  the  Scotch-Irish  settlement  of  Mecklen- 
burg, in  a  public  meeting  on  the  20th  of  May,  1775,  made 
the  first  public  declaration,  in  the  form  of  resolutions, 
that  the  Americans  were  "  a  free  and  independent  people." 
In  1840  this  state  had  141  academies  and  grammar  schools 
and  632  primary  and  common  schools.  In  i860  the  num- 
ber of  primary  schools  had  increased  to  4000,  with  an 
attendance  of  160,000  pupils. 

"  This  state  is  also  conspicuous,"  says  Commissioner 
Harris,  "  for  the  advanced  position  it  occupied  in  matters 
of  education  in  the  constitution  adopted  in  1776,  in  the 
early  chartering  and  opening  of  its  State  University,  in 
the  breadth  of  the  educational  thought  shown  by  Archi- 
bald D.  Murphey,  the  father  of  her  common  schools,  and 
in  the  administration  of  Rev.  Calvin  H.  Wiley,  her  first 
general  superintendent.  This  state,  too,  was  alone  among 
the  Confederate  states,  in  keeping  her  schools  open  dur- 
ing the  war." 

Rural  Schools  of  the  South.  —  Even  the  primitive  "  old 
field,"  or  neighborhood,  rural  schools  of  North  Carolina, 
Virginia,  and  other  Southern  states  deserve  to  be  held  in 
grateful  remembrance,  along  with  incorporated  academies 
and  endowed  colleges.  These  schools,  like  those  of  New 
England  in  early  days,  enabled  many  boys,  born  to  pov:_ 


62         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

erty.  but  giited_wiih-43£>wer,  to  make  a  start  in  life_and_ 
fight  their  way  in  the^wQiLcL 

It  was  in  one  of  these  schools  in  North  Carolina  that  a 
sandy-haired  lad  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  named  Andrew 
Jackson,  learned  *'  to  read  and  write  and  cast  accounts," 
otherwise  he  would  never  have  been  heard  of  among  men. 
Though  born  to  poverty,  he  was  richly  endowed  by 
heredity  with  the  qualities  that  command  leadership.  His 
real  education  was  mainly  acquired  by  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  law.  In  the  state  of  Tennessee,  to  which  he  emi- 
grated, he  rose  to  leadership  in  political  and  military 
affairs.  In  the  War  of  1812  he  was  the  one  man  in  the 
nation  best  fitted  to  take  command  of  the  western  fron- 
tiersmen, and  to  beat  back  the  British  army  of  trained 
veterans  at  New  Orleans.  His  election  as  President  of 
the  United  States  marked  the  growing  political  power  of 
the  West,  and  the  birth  of  an  American  spirit  of  demo- 
cracy as  a  reaction  against  the  federalism  of  New  England 
and  the  British  conservatism  of  Virginia.  This  awaken- 
ing of  the  common  people  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  com- 
mon schools  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Ohio,  and 
other  states  soon  to  be  formed  out  of  the  Northwest 
Territory. 

John  C.  Calhoun,  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  born  in  South 
Carolina,  educated  at  Yale,  and  bred  under  the  influence 
of  the  old  regime  of  his  native  state,  lived  to  become  the 
great  political  leader  of  the  old  South.  His  career,  com- 
pared with  that  of  Andrew  Jackson,  affords  a  striking 
illustration  of  the  effect  of  different  environments. 

A  generation  later,  James  K.  Polk,  born  in  North  Caro- 
lina, of  Presbyterian  Scotch-Irish  stock,  studied  law,  emi- 
grated to  Tennessee,  rose  to  leadership,  and  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.     Here,  also,  was  born  Thomas 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  63 

H.  Benton.  He  too  emigrated  to  Tennessee,  studied  law, 
served  under  General  Jackson  at  New  Orleans,  removed 
to  St.  Louis,  and  represented  Missouri  for  thirty  years 
in  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 

Henry  Clay,  of  English  stock,  born  to  poverty  in  Vir- 
ginia, obtained  a  limited  school  education  in  Peter  Dea- 
con's log-cabin  schoolhouse,  which  had  no  floor  but  the 
earth  and  no  window  but  the  door.  He  earned  his  living 
at  an  early  age  as  clerk  in  a  law  office,  studied  law,  and 
emigrated  to  Kentucky.  Gifted  by  nature  with  a  winning 
manner  and  great  power  of  oratory,  he  became  a  political 
leader  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 

From  this  state,  also,  came  William  Henry  Harrison,  of 
notable  English  descent.  Educated  in  Hampden-Sidney 
College,  he  entered  the  army  as  an  ensign,  and  was 
ordered  to  the  West,  where  he  combined  a  military  with 
a  civil  career.  He  was  appointed  as  the  first  secretary  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  then  territorial  delegate  to  Con- 
gress, next,  governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  and  was  finally 
elected  President  of  the  United  States. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  ancestors  dwelt  in  Virginia, 
was  born  to  theTiardships  and  poverty  of  pioneer  life  in 
Kentucky.  His  school  education  was  limited  to  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic,  which  he  learned  during  a  few 
months*  attendance  in  the  primitive  schools  of  that  period. 
He  emigrated  to  Illinois,  earned  his  living  by  farm  work 
and  other  occupations,  educated  himself  by  the  study  and 
practice  of  law,  and  became  one  of  the  greatest  of  Amer- 
ican presidents. 

The  lives  of  this  group  of  leaders  among  men  make  an 
interesting  study  on  the  comparative  effects  of  heredity, 
school  education,  and  environment.  Washington,  Jeffer- 
son,   John    Marshall,    Patrick    Henry,    John    Tyler,  and 


64         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Andrew  Johnson  make  another  group  worth  special  con- 
sideration as  a  psychological  study. 

Besides  these  few  notable  men,  there  went  out  from 
these  states  into  the  wilderness  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
and  the  Northwest  Territory^  thousands  of  hardy  pioneers 
of  the  type  of  DanieljBoone,  J  ohn_  Sevier,  and  George 
Rogers  Clark.  THeywent  there  in  search  of  new  homes 
on  fertile  lands,  and  because  there  was  little  chance  for 
them  to  make  their  way  in  the  older  settlements.  These 
constituted  the  advance  guard  of  civilization.  They 
fought  the  Indians,  subdued  the  wilderness,  and  helped  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  civil  government  and  common 
schools  in  the  states  of  the  West.  Though  most  of  them 
had  but  scanty  scjiopling,  and^orn^o^f  them  none  at  all^ 
they  made  a  success  of  life  under  new  conditions. 

THE   AGE   OF   ACADEMIES. 

The  half  century  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
was  marked  by  great  financial,  commercial,  and  industrial 
prosperity,  broken  only  by  the  war  of  1812-15,  and  the 
financial  panic  of  1837.  It  was  during  this  period  that 
academies  and  seminaries  were  established  to  supplement 
the  elementary  instruction  of  the  common  jchpols.  These 
acadernies  were  establisHed  in  great  numbers  in  all  parts 
of  the  United  States.  In  Massachusetts  alone  they  num- 
bered nearly  one  hundred,  and  they  were  numerous  and 
strong  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  North  Carolina. 
A  few  of  these  endowed  institutions,  like  the  Phillips- 
Exeter  Academy  (1781),  in  New  Hampshire,  and  the 
Phillips-Andover  Academy  (1780),  in  Massachusetts,  were 
preparatory  schools  exclusively  designed  to  fit  boys  for 
college ;  but,  in  general,  they  provided  a  course  of  study^ 


■   EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  6$ 

preparatory  for  college,  and  also  a  general  educational 
course,  largely  elective.  These  academies  were  mainly 
supported  by  tuition  fees,  though  often  aided  by  state 
subsidies  or  individual  bequests.  They  were  governed  by 
boards  of  trustees,  were  generally  denominational  in  name, 
but  liberal  in  management.  They  were,  in  fact,  quasi 
public  schools,  as  whatever  endowments  or  state  aid  they 
received,  reduced  their  rates  of  tuition.  They  were  no 
longer  modeled  after  English  schools  ;  they  were,  like  the 
common  schools,  American  institutions.  They  were 
open,  at  least  in  New  England,  to  both  young  men  and 
young  women,  forerunners  of  the  co-education  of  the  sexes 
in  modern  high  schools  and  state  universities^  They  sup- 
plied teachers  for  the  rural  common  schools.  They 
trained,  for  two  generations,  the  leaders  in  business. 
They  recognized  the  higher  education  of  women.  After 
flourishing  for  more  than  half  a  century,  they  were  grad- 
ually superseded,  except  in  rural  districts,  by  city  and 
town  high  schools. 

Endowed  Academies.  —  The  first  endowed  academy  in  Massachusetts 
was  the  Dummer  Academy  at  Byfield  (1763,)  Leicester  Academy 
was  incorporated  (1784);  Berwick  (1791);  Westfield  (1793);  Brad- 
ford (1803)  ;  Hampton,  N.  H.  (1810).  The  first  academy  in  New 
Hampshire  for  girls  exclusively,  was  the  endowed  Adams  Academy  in 
the  Scotch-Irish  town  of  Londonderry,  or  Derry  (1823)  ;  the  first  for 
girls  in  Massachusetts  was  at  Ipswich  (1823).  The  Troy  Seminary 
(N.  Y.)  for  young  women,  was  opened  in  1 821,  by  Mrs.  Emma  Hart 
Willard.  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  for  the  education  of  young  women 
was  founded  by  Mary  Lyon,  at  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  in  1836. 

Concerning  the  influence  of  academies  in  Massachusetts,  George 
H.  Martin  in  his  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  Sys- 
tem says :  "  Besides  this  work  as  fitting  schools,  the  academies 
had  an  immeasurable  influence  in  broadening  non-college  students. 
They  reached  an  immense  multitude  of  young  people,  Leicester  had 
received  from  six  to  eight  thousand  pupils,  of  whom  perhaps  four 

AM.   PUB.    SCH. 5 


(i^         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

hundred  had  been  fitted  for  college :  Westfield  had  over  eight  thou- 
sand persons  ;  Lawrence,  at  Groton,  nearly  eight  thousand  ;  New 
Salem  not  less  than  seven  thousand.  In  eighty  or  ninety  years — three 
generations — these  four  schools  alone  had  brought  into  a  scholarly 
atmosphere,  had  kept  under  the  instruction  of  scholarly  men  and 
women,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  not  less  than  thirty  thousand 
young  men  and  young  women — ten  thousand  to  a  generation  ;  and 
these  are  only  four  of  more  than  a  hundred  such  schools." 

District  Schools.  —  The  district  schools  and  rural 
academies  were  adapted  to  the  sodal  and  industrial  con- 
ditiong_of  the  perimi_jn^  which  they  flourished.  They 
turned  out  good  American  citizens.  They  brought  the 
children  of  all  classes  together  on  one  common  footing. 
The  strict  discipline  of  the  school  was  backed  up  by  a 
firm  home  training.  The  value  of  an  education  was  a 
common  topic  in  every  family.  Parents  saw  to  it  that 
tlTeir~children  stiTdied  at  home  during  the  long  winter 
evenings.  The  forehanded  farmers  sent  all  their  children, 
boys  and  girls  alike,  to  the  district  school ;  they  sent 
them,  also,  for  a  few  terms  to  the  academy ;  they  toiled 
and  economized  to  send  at  least  one  son  to  college. 

HOME   EDUCATION. 

In  addition  to  the  supplementary  education  furnished 
by  the  academy  we  must  take  into  account  the  value  of  a 
correlative  course  of  manual  training jn_farmjvork  and 
domestic  industries,  which  j)y  industrial  condition s_was 
Rigidly  enforced  on  the  great  majority  of  the  children 
during  the  period  under  consideration.  Agriculture  was 
the  leading  occupation  of  the  people.  For  half  the  year  at 
least  the  boys  were  kept  at  home  hard  at  work  in  plowing, 
planting,  hoeing,  haying,  harvesting,  and  taking  care  of 
live  stock.     The  girls  took  a  manual  training  course  in 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHO  OLS  ey 

cooking,  washing,  mending,  knitting,  and  sewing.  Before 
the  era  of  cotton  factories  and  woolen  mills,  every  farm- 
house contained  a  loom  and  a  spinning  wheel.  The 
girls  assisted  their  mothers  in  carding  and  spinning  wool, 
in  weaving  it  into  cloth,  and  in  making  up  clothing 
for  the  family.     Thus  both  boys  and  girls  were  trained 


into  steady  habrts_ofwork.  If  they  lacked  somewhat  in 
book  knowledge,  the  loss  was  made  up  to  them  by  a 
training  in  the  practical  duties  of  life.  If  this  strict  and 
sometimes  over-exacting  school  and  home  training  failed 
to  develop  the  aesthetic  side  of  human  nature,  it  resulted 
in  a  stock  of  vital  common  sense  as  a  guide  in  earning  a 
living. 

"  That  our  successful  men  have  come  so  largely  from  the  country," 
says  Dr.  John  Dewey,  "is  an  indication  of  the  educational  value  bound 
up  with  participation  in  this  practical  life.  It  was  not  only  an  ade- 
quate substitute  for  what  we  now  term  manual  training,  in  the  devel- 
opment of  hand  and  eye,  in  the  acquisition  of  skill  and  deftness ;  but 
it  was  initiation  into  self-reliance,  independence  of  judgment  and  ac- 
tion, and  was  the  best  stimulus  to  habits  of  regular  and  continuous 
work."  Back  of  the  common  school  and  behind  the  home  education, 
there  lay,  also,  the  strength  of  heredity  transmitted  from  ancestors 
who  loved  liberty  and  prized  learning.  All  these  things  were  further 
supplemented  by  the  strong  social  influences  of  the  church,  the  town 
meeting,  ai;d  the  free  discussion  of  public  affairs. 

PRACTICAL  VALUE   OF  THE   COMMON   SCHOOL. 

Horace  Greeley  was  graduated  from  a  district  school  into 
a  printing  ofifice  in  the  Scotch-Irish  town  of  London- 
derry in  New  Hampshire.  From  a  neighboring  school 
district  Colonel  John  Stark  went  out  to  the  battle  of 
Bunker  Hill,  followed,  according  to  tradition,  by  all  the 
able-bodied  men  in  town,  save  only  two.     Later  in  the 


68         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

war  the  same  townsmen  followed  General  John  Stark  to 
the  battle  of  Bennington.  Generals  John  Sullivan,  John 
Reid,  and  Alexander  Scammell  belonged  to  the  same 
fighting  stock  and  were  trained  in  similar  schools  in 
neighboring  towns. 

Benjamin  Franklin  when  seven  years  old  entered  a 
Boston  public  school,  left  it  at  ten  years  of  age,  and 
began  his  great  career  as  printer,  statesman,  and  philoso- 
pher. George  Peabody  at  eleven  years  of  age  left  a 
Massachusetts  common  school  to  become,  first  a  clerk  in 
a  small  store,  next  a  merchant,  and  finally  the  educational 
philanthropist  who  created  the  Peabody  Southern  Edu- 
cational Fund  which  has  done  so  much  to  aid  the 
establishment  of  common  schools  in  the  South. 

In  the  common  school  and  rural  academy  of  this  same 
state  Mary  Lyon  fitted  herself  for  her  great  work  in 
founding  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary  and  College  for  young 
women.  Clara  Barton,  whose  great  work  in  the  Red 
Cross  Society  is  known  to  all  the  world,  was  educated  in 
similar  schools. 

In  common  school,  academy,  and  Dartmouth  College, 
Daniel  Webster  was  trained.  His  father  mortgaged  the 
home  farm  to  send  Daniel  to  college,  and  his  mother 
made  for  him  with  her  own  hands  a  homespun  Suit  as  an 
outfit. 

In  an  obscure  common  school  in  Massachusetts,  Roger 
Sherman  got  all  the  school  education  of  his  life.  By  suc- 
cessive stages,  he  rose  from  the  shoemaker's  bench  to 
become,  first  a  county  surveyor,  next  a  lawyer,  then  judge 
of  the  Superior  Court ;  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  and  member  of  the  committee  of  five 
to  draft  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

But  the  greatest  strenj[th-_Q£jthe  common  schools  con- 


EARL  V  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS 


6g 


sisted    in  their  power  in  molding    the   common  people 
into  intelligent  and  industrious  citizens^  many  of  whom, 
for   successive   generations^^  pushed  out    into  jthe   West 
and   aided    in   the   extension    of   free    schools^  _and_  free^ 
labor. 


The  real  power  of  this  Republic  consists,  not  in  a  few 
great  statesmen,  orators,  or  political  leaders,  not  in  a 
few  highly  educated  philosophers  or  scientists,  not  in  a 
few  millionaires,  but  in  the  consolidated  character,  intelli- 
gence, and  public  opinion  of  the  masses  who  cast  the 
ballot  on  election  days,  who  shoulder  the  musket  and 
man  the  battleships  in  times  of  war  ;  of  the  men  who  in 
time"  of  peace  carry  on  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the 
nation ;  of  the  women  who  protect  the  homes  and 
educate  the  children, — and  if  these  lack  the  wisdom  of 
intelligence  the  republic  will  suffer  harm  in  spite  of  the 
educated  few.  Neither  does  the  wealth  of  this  nation 
consist  alone  in  real  estate,  agricultural  products,  manu- 
factures, and  mines ;  for  all  these  material  things  onty 
furnish  the  means  for  higher  ends  and  a  more  complete 
civilization.  The  world  has  been  enriched  largely  by  the 
creative  power  of  inventive  genius ;  and  the  great  inven- 
tions— the  steam-engine,  the  steamship,  the  railway,  the 
cotton-gin,  the  spinning-jenny,  the  electric  telegraph,  the 
countless  labor-saving  machines  in  every  department  of 
industry — none  of  them  were  the  blundering  products  of 
unskilled  men  held  in  the  bonds  of  ignorance.  Even 
the  elective  franchise  is  a  menace  to  the  republic  unless 
the  great  majority  of  voters  know  how  to  think  intelli- 
gently and  act  wisely  in  political  affairs.  The  right  of 
trial  by  jury — what  is  it  but  a  shadow  of  justice  when 
the  jury  box  can  be  filled  by  the  ''  born  thralls  "  of 
illiteracy  ? 


70         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
THE   PERIOD   OF   EDUCATIONAL   REFORM. 

The  decade  of  1830-40  marks  the  beginning  of  a  great 
educational  awakening  in  the  United  States.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  rapid  development  of  manufactures,  com- 
merce,  and_jii£aniIoLlJ'ai^sportation,  there  had  begun  a 
tendency  of  the  population  tojconcentrate  in  ^ities_ai]Ld- 
villages^  The  urban  population,  which,  in  1790,  consti- 
tuted only  one  in  thirty,  had  increased  in  1830  to  one  in 
twelve.  Changes  in  social  and  industrial  conditions  led  to 
corresponding  modifications  of  school  laws  and  school  or- 
ganization. The  "  age  of  homespun,"  the  *'  old-fashioned 
district  school,"  and  the  denominational  academy  began 
to  fall  into  decadence  together. 

It  was  at  this  period  (i837)that  Horace  Mann  appeared 
in  Massachusetts  as  Secretary  of  the  State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. "  He  was,"  says  WiUiam^nTarrTsr  "  like  so 
many  of  the  great  men  of  the  Puritans,  modeled  on  the 
type  of  the  Hebrew  prophets."  He  went  out  into  all 
parts  of  the^tate  as  an  educational  missionary,  lecturing 
^o_the_p>eaple  wherever  he  could  gather  them  together,  in 
hall,  or  meeting-house,  or  country  schoolhouse,  on  the 
need  of  reforms  in  schools  and  school  management.  He 
advocated  the  consolidation  of  the  independent  school 
districts  into  township  schools  under  the  control  of  one 
central  school  committee ;  the  levy  of  town  taxes  for 
school  purposes;  the  establishment  of  graded  schools,  nor- 
mal schools,  and  high  schools;  a  higher  standard  for  teach- 
ers* certificates  ;  the  addition  of  oral  teaching  to  text-book 
memorizing;  institutions  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  and 
blind  ;  special  schools  for  the  reformation  of  vicious  chil- 
dren ;  and  he  attacked  the  extreme  severity  of  corporal 
punishment  in  the  Boston  schools.  He  wrote  school  re- 
ports so  eloquent  that  they  are  still  read  as  classic  educa- 


EARLY  AMERICAN  SCHOOLS  yi 

tional  literature.  His  fiery  zeal  roused  the  people  to 
action.  Henry  Barnard  took  up  the  same  work  in  Con- 
necticut,  and  the  two  greatest  of  early  American  educa- 
tional leaders  together  inaugurated  a  reform  movement. 
felt  even  in  the  remote  state^  of  the  South  and  West. 
"  The  school  children  of  Massachusetts,"  says  George  H. 
Martin,  "  made  no  mistake  when  they  placed  in  front  of 
the  capitol  of  the  state  a  statue  of  Horace  Mann,  as  of 
their  benefactor  and  their  ideal." 

The  establishment  of  normal  schools  in  Massachusetts 


and  New  YQTir~^ed~tcrTTiarkedr'nnprovements7'bojh_In^ 
methods  of  teaching  and  in  courses  of  study.  New  and 
improved  text-books  appeared  j^cityschools  were  graded  ; 
and  high  schools  began  to  be  organized.  School  laws 
were  amended.  City,  town,  and  county  superintendents 
were  appointed  and  school  supervision  was  begun  in 
earnest.  Since  that  period  of  educational  revival,  there 
has  been  no  reaction  in  the  spirit  of  progress. 

THE   GREAT  NATIONAL  CRISIS. 

We  are  apt  to  consider  accomplished  results  rather  than 
the  remote  causes  which  lead  up  to  them.  Seventy  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  there  came  the  great 
crisis  in  national  affairs  in  which  the  stability  of  the  Re- 
public was  at  stake.  It  was  then  that  the  beneficent  re- 
sults flowing  from  the  ordinance  of  1787  were  clearly 
made  evident.  The  powerful  and  populous  states,  carved 
out  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  which  had  been  dedi- 
cated by  law  to  freedom,  gave  to  the  nation  that  wisest  of 
modern  statesmen,  Abraham  Lincoln.  The  President's 
call  to  arms  was  answered  by  hosts  of  volunteers,  made 
intelligent  and  patriotic  citizens  in  the  common  schools, 
which  had  been  fostered  by  the  Magna  Charta  of  1787. 


^2 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


In  these  public  schools  were  trained,  in  their  boyhood,  the 
great  military  and  civil  leaders, — Grant,  Sherman,  Har- 
rison, Hayes,  Garfield,  and  McKinley — better  known  but 
not  more  patriotic  than  the  rank  and  file  of  the  army. 
Shoulder  to  shoulder,  with  the  common-school  recruits 
from  the  older  Eastern  and  Middle  states,  and  the  newer 
states  of  the  Pacific,  they  fought  through  the  war  or  fell 
on  the  field  of  battle,  in  defense  of  the  Union. 

The  spirit  of  these  patriots  is  clearly  set  forth  in  Gen- 
eral Grant's  address  to  his  comrades,  at  Des  Moines  (1875), 
which  reads,  in  part,  as  follows  :  "  In  this  centennial  year 
of  our  national  existence,  I  believe  it  is  a  good  time  to 
begin  the  work  of  strengthening  the  foundation  of  the 
house  commenced  by  our  patriotic  forefathers,  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  at  Concord  and  Lexington.  Let  us  all 
labor  to  add  all  needful  guarantees  for  the  more  perfect 
security  of  free  thought,  free  speech,  a  free  press,  pure 
morals,  unfettered  religious  sentiment,  and  of  equal  rights 
and  privileges  to  all  men,  irrespective  of  nationality,  color, 
or  religion.  Encourage  free  schools,  and  resolve  that  not 
one  dollar  of  money  appropriated  to  their  support,  no 
matter  how  raised,  shall  be  appropriated  to  the  support  of 
any  sectarian  school.  Resolved  that  either  the  state  or 
nation,  or  both  combined,  shall  support  institutions  of 
learning  sufficient  to  afford  to  every  child  growing  up  in 
the  land  the  opportunity  of  a  good  common-school  edu- 
cation, unmixed  with  sectarian,  pagan,  or  atheistical  tenets. 
Leave  the  matter  of  religion  to  the  family  circle,  the 
church,  and  the  private  school  supported  entirely  by 
private  contribution.  Keep  the  Church  and  State  forever 
separate.  With  these  safeguards  I  believe  the  battles 
which  created  us  *  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  '  will  not 
have  been  fought  in  vain." 


CHAPTER  III 
SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION 

THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   HIGH   SCHOOLS 

Public  High  Schools. — We  have  seen  that  for  more 
than  a  century  the  academy,  the  seminary,  the  private 
school,  and  the  Latin  grammar  school  furnished  the 
means  of  secondary  education  as  a  supplement  to  the 
elementary  common  school,  or  as  a  preparation  for  col- 
lege. It  was  not  until  nearly  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  that  public  hig^h  schools  and  public  normal 
schools  began  to  form  an  essential  feature  in  public  edu- 
cation. 

The  modern  free  high  school  is  a  modified  type  of  the 
academy  and  seminary  of  former  times  with  traces  of  the 
early  Latin  grammar  schools.  Its  distinctive  points  of 
difference  from  the  older  institutions  are  that  it  is  under 
public  management  instead  of  denominational  or  private 
control,  and  is  free  from  tuition  fees.  It  came  into  exist- 
ence to  meet  the  demands  of  modern  life.  It  was  not  the 
work  of  the  college  or  the  university  reaching  downward*; 
nor  was  it  the  creation  of  speculative  philosophers.  It 
came  naturally  from  the  upward  pressure  of  the  common 
schools,  and  the  demand  of  the  masses  of  the  American 
people  for  a  free  education  of  a  grade  higher  than  that  of 
the  comir.on  school.  One  of  the  functions  of  the  high 
school  is  to  fit  pupils  for  the  college  or  university ;  but 
its  chief  purpose  is  to  give  the  great  mass  of  pupils,  after 


74 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


they  have  completed  the  grammar  school  course,  the 
means  ofacquiring  an  English  _£.rlii  rati  on  which  shall 
better  fit  them  for  good  citizgnship  and  for  the  nrclinjirj7 
pursuitsoflife. 

Leaving  out  of  consideration  the  colonial  Latin  schools, 
and  other  "  grammar  schools  *'  of  like  type,  the  modern 
free  high  school  may  be  said  to  date,  in  this  country,  from 
the  establishment  of  the  Boston  English  High  School 
(1821),  with  George  B.  Emerson  as  head  master,  and  a 
course  of  study  which  included,  besides  EngHsh,  the 
French  and  Spanish  languages,  physics,  mathematics, 
mental  and  moral  philosophy,  rhetoric,  and  general  his- 
tory. 

Massachusetts  in  1826  made  the  modern  high  school  a 
part  of  the  state  school  system  by  enacting  a  law  that 
towns  having  at  least  500  families  should  organize  an 
English  high  school,  and  that  towns  having  at  least  4000 
inhabitants  should  establish  a  classical  high  school.  In 
1840  this  law  was  repealed,  but  was  re-enacted  in  1848. 
For  some  time  the  high  school  had  to  encounter  the  de- 
termined opposition  of  private  preparatory  schools,  de- 
nominational academies  and  seminaries,  denominational 
colleges,  and  many  tax-payers.  It  took  all  the  fiery  zeal 
of  Horace  Mann  and  his  co-workers  to  break  down  these 
antagonizing  influences  and  finally  to  win  a  victory  for 
the  American  people. 

The  dates  of  the  establishment  of  free  modern  high  schools  in  the 
great  cities  afford  a  striking  illustration  of  the  slow  evolution  of  this 
part  of  the  American  school  system:  —  Boston  (1821),  English  high 
school  for  boys,  and  (1825  and  1852)  one  ^  for  girls;  Philadelphia 
(1837),  boys'  high  school,  and  (1840),  a  girls' high  school;  Buffalo 

1  Continued  only  one  year  and  abolished  because  it  was  considered 
too  expensive. 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION 


75 


high  school  (1838) ;  Baltimore  (1839),  boys'  high  school;  Providence 
(1843)  ;  Cincinnati  (1847),  Central  high  school ;  New  York  city  (1849), 
free  academy  for  boys  ;  Cleveland  high  school  (1852)  ;  St.  Louis 
(1853),  high  school  for  boys  and  girls;  Newark  high  school  (1855)  ; 
San  Francisco  (1856),  English  high  school  for  boys  and  girls  ;  Chicago 
high  school  (1856)  ;  Detroit  high  school  (1858)  ;  New  York  city 
(1870,)  normal  school  for  girls,  and  (1897)  three  modem  high 
schools. 

In  1838  there  were  fourteen  high  schools  in  Massa- 
chusetts; in  1852,  sixty-four;  in  i860,  one  hundred  and 
two.  But  during  the  last  half  century,  under  the  impera- 
tive demands  of  the  people,  the  high  school  has  been  ex- 
tended not  only  into  every  city,  but  also  into  towns, 
villages,  and  rural  districts,  so  that  in  1897  no  state  01 
territory   was  without   one,  except  Alaska. 

According  to  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation (1896-97),  there  were  5109  public  high  schools  in 
the  United  States,  of  which,  in  part,  Ohio  had  576 ;  In- 
diana, 343  ;  New  York,  341  ;  Illinois,  323  ;  Iowa,  322  ; 
Michigan,  280 ;  Pennsylvania,  249 ;  Massachusetts,  223  ; 
and  other  states  in  varying  numbers  from  218  in  Nebraska 
to  2  each  in  Utah  and  Wyoming,  3  in  the  Territory  of 
Oklahoma,  and  3  each  in  Indian  Territory  and  Arizona. 

In  these  public  high  schools  there  were  enrolled  235,988 
girls  and  173,445  boys,  making  a  total  of  409,433  students. 
Of  this  number  the  returns  for  1897  show  that  only  12.17 
per  cent,  were  preparing  for  college. 

In  the  total  enrollment  the  state  of  New  York  reported 
38,957  students;  Ohio,  37,958;  Illinois,  31,909;  Mas- 
sachusetts, 31,360;  Michigan,  25,745  ;  Iowa,  24,626;  and 
Pennsylvania,  24,044.  There  were  627  high  schools  in 
cities  having  a  population  of  8000  or  upwards,  and  4,482 
in  rural  districts  or  in  cities  and  towns  with  less  than 
8000    inhabitants.      In   the   2100   private   high    schools. 


76         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

academies,  and  denominational  institutions  in  tlie  United 
States  there  was  reported  an  enrollment  of  107,633 
secondary  students,  or  a  little  less  than  21  per  cent,  as 
against  79  per  cent,  enrolled  in  the  public  secondary 
schools.  The  total  number  of  secondary  students  in  both 
public  and  private  secondary  schools  shows  that  there  is 
an  average  of  819  such  students  in  every  100,000  of  the 
population  of  the  United  States.  In  the  department  of 
higher  education  the  ratio  is  196  students  to  each  100,000 
inhabitants. 

High  School  Courses  of  Study.  —  It  would  be  outside 
of  the  scope  of  this  chapter  to  treat  of  high  school  courses 
of  study,  but  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  a  paragraph  from 
the  pen  of  Professor  Paul  H.  Hanus,  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, which  presents  a  matter  of  vital  importance  to  sec- 
ondary schools. 

"  The  efforts  to  improve  the  secondary  or  high-school  courses  of 
study,  like  the  corresponding  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  gram- 
mar-school courses  of  study,  have  been  directed  to  an  enlargement  of 
its  scope  (content)  and  such  modification  of  its  form  as  would  best 
adapt  it  to  modern  needs.  In  bringing  about  these  very  desirable 
changes  in  the  high-school  course  of  study  the  West  has  rendered  im- 
portant service.  In  those  newer  regions  traditions  have  had  less 
weight  in  determining  educational  practice,  and  the  non-classical  high- 
school  courses  have  thrived  there  especially.  A  very  important  inci- 
dental gain,  traceable  largely  to  these  modifications  in  the  high-school 
course  of  study  made  in  response  to  external  demands,  deserves  to  be 
noted  here.  These  modifications  have  had  much  to  do  with  insuring 
the  permanence  of  the  public  high  school  as  an  integral  part  of  our 
public-school  systems.  ...  At  the  present  time  the  public  high 
school  may  justly  be  said  to  be  firmly  established  throughout  the  coun- 
try. These  are  great  gains.  At  the  same  time,  however,  another  im- 
portant modification  is  gradually  finding  recognition  in  our  secondary- 
school  programmes.  Not  only  may  the  pupil  choose  one  of  several 
courses  of  study  offered  to  him  in  every  considerable  high  school,  but 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION    yy 

choices  are  permitted  within  these  courses,  and  there  are  schools  — 
and  the  number  of  such  schools  is  increasing  —  in  which  at  least  one 
course  of  study,  the  '  general  course,'  which  is  not  determined  by  col- 
lege admission  requirements,  is  entirely  elective  throughout.  That  is 
to  say,  not  only  does  the  modern  high  school  aim  to  provide  an  intro- 
duction to  the  culture  and  training  demanded  by  modern  life,  but  in 
so  doing  it  seeks  also  to  adapt  its  opportunities  and  demands  to  the 
tastes  and  capacities  of  individuals.  The  importance  of  this  change 
in  our  secondary-school  opportunities  it  is  difficult  to  overrate."  i 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 

The  First  Training  Schools.  —  During  the  colonial 
period  and  for  nearly  half  a  century  after,  the  common 
schools  were  mainly  supplied  with  teachers  by  the  acad- 
emy, the  seminary,  and  the  college.  But  after  the  war  of 
1812-15,  the  great  increase  of  schools  in  commercial  cities 
and  manufacturing  towns  and  villages,  created  a  demand^ 
for  teachers  having  some  special  training  for  their  work. 
Rev.  Samuel  R.  Hall  opened  in  the  town  of  Concord. 
Vermont  (i 823),  a  private  schodL^for— the  training  of 
teachers,  which  he  continued  for  seven  years.  Mr.  Hall, 
when  a  young  man,  teaching  his  first  common  school  in 
the  state  of  Maine  (181 5),  showed  his  radical  tendencies 
towards  innovations  by  introducing  the  writing  of  compo- 
sitions, which  excited  a  storm  of  protests  from  parents  and 
pupils.  In  1829  he  published  one  of  the  first  notable 
American  books  on  common  school  pedagogics,  entitled, 
*'  Lectures  on  School  Keeping."  In  1830  he  took  charge 
of  a  teachers'  department  in  the  Phillips- A  ndover  Acad- 
emy, and  also  established  a  private  normal  school  at 
Plymouth,  New  Hampshire. 

The  state  of  New  York  made  an  experiment  (1830-44), 

1  Educational  Review,  December,  1896. 


78         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHO  OLS  I 

...                           ,                                    -  1 

in    establishing    teachers'    departments    in    incorporated  \ 

academies  by  a  system  of  state  appropriations   for  that 

purpose.     Such  departments  were  organized   in    sixteen  \ 

academies,  but  the  results  fell  short  of   expectations,  and  ^ 

state  aid  was  withdrawn  on  the  passage  of  an  act  (1844),  \ 

to  establish  a  state  normal  school  at  Albany.  i 

Meanwhile,    in  New  England,  the  normal-school  idea  ] 

_was  brought  before_the._aublicby  a  group  of  educational  _\ 

reformers  of  remarkable  ability  and  zeaH     Among  these  j 

were  James  G.   Carter,  Rev.   Samuel   R.  Hall,  George  B.  \ 

Emerson,  Professor  William  Russell,  Rev.  Charles  Brooks,  \ 

Edmund  Dwight,  Thomas  Gallaudet,  Horace  Mann,  Henry  \ 

Barnard,  and  many  others.                                                         ^  i 

The  Ainerirn/y,-  fnnrnnl  pf  F^nrnfinn^  one  of  the  first  \ 
in  the  English  language,  appeared  (1826),  in  Boston,  \ 
edited  by  William  C.  Woodbridge,  William  Russell,  and  j 
William  A.  Alcott ;  the  Massachusetts  Common  School  '\ 
Journal {\Zi(^,  was  started  and  edited  by  Horace  Mann;  j 
the  New  York  Cojumon  School  Assistant  (1836-40)  was 
edited  and  published  by  J.  Orville  Taylor ;  and  a  Con- 
necticut School  J ourjial  (1838),  was  edited  by  Henry  \ 
Barnard.  j 

A  society  for  the  improvement  of  common  schools  was  ! 

organized   (1827),    in   Connecticut;  a   similar   society  in  \ 

Pennsylvania  (1828);  another  in  Ohio  (1829)  ;  the  Ameri-  \ 

can  Institute  of  Instruction,  in  Massachusetts  (1830);  the  \ 

American  Common  School  Society  (1838),  New  York.  1 

All  these  combined  influences  resulted  in  the  beginning  \ 

of  a  great  upward  extension  of  the"common-scho^  system  j 

by  including  in  it  the  public  high  school  and  the   state  \ 

normal  school.  1 

^    Public  Normal  Schools.  — The  first  public  normal  school  ) 

in  the  United  States  was  opened  at  Lexington,  Massa-  J 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION   79 

chusetts(i839),  with  Cyrus  Pierce  as  principal ;  the  second 
at  Barre,  Massachusetts  (1839)  5  ^^  third  at  Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts  (1840);  the  fourth  at  Albany,  New  York 
(1844)  ;  the  fifth  at  New  Britain,  Connecticut  (1849)  5  the 
sixth  was  established  at  Ypsilanti,  Michigan  (1850),  but 
was  not  opened  until  two  years  later.  At  the  middle  of 
this  century  (1850),  there  were  only  six  state  normal 
schools  in  the  United  States. 

Concerning  the  immediate  results  of  the  three  pioneer 
state  normal  schools  in  Massachusetts,  Mr.  George  H. 
Martin  says  :  ^  "  Their  early  graduates  encountered  every- 
where prejudice  and  suspicion,  in  many  cases  active  and 
persistent  opposition  ;  but  steadily,  year  by  year,  they 
fixed  themselves  more  and  more  firmly  in  public  esti- 
mation and  support." 

Since  1850  state  normal  schools  have  been  rapidly 
multiplied  and  have  become,  like  the  high  schools,  an 
essential  part  of  the  public-school  system.  Local  normal 
schools  are  maintained  by  the  cities  of  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, Chicago,  Boston,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  Balti- 
more ;  and  many  other  cities  have  normal  classes  in  con- 
nection with  high  schools. 

The  total  number  of  state  and  municipal  public  normal  schools 
(1896-97)  was  164.  Of  these  schools  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
had  14  each  ;  Massachusetts,  9  ;  North  Carolina,  West  Virginia,  and 
Wisconsin,  7  each  ;  Alabama,  Ohio,  and  Iowa,  6  each  ;  California,  5  ; 
and  other  states  had  varying  numbers  from  4  each  in  Maine  and  Con- 
necticut, to  I  each  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Oklahoma.  The  total 
enrollment  in  public  normal  schools  was  43,197  students.  In  the 
public  normal  schools  for  colored  students,  the  Southern  States  reported 
an  enrollment  of  1800.  The  number  of  graduates  from  public  normal 
schools  was  8,032,  of  which  number  62.6  per  cent,  were  women.     The 

^  "  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School  System  "  (1894). 


8o        HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

aggregate  amount  of  public  appropriations  for  the  support  of  these 
schools  was  nearly  two  and  one-half  millions  of  dollars. 

The  public  colleges  and  universities  reported  i  ,839  normal  students  ; 
and  public  high  schools  having  normal  departments  reported  9,001 
normal  students.  In  198  private  normal  schools  there  were  24,181 
students  ;  in  private  universities  and  colleges,  4,650,  and  in  private  high 
schools,  7,064.  The  aggregate  of  normal  students  in  all  public  institu- 
tions was  54,039 ;  in  all  private  institutions,  35,895. 


STATE  PUBLIC  UNIVERSITIES. 

Colleges. — The  colleges  founded  in  colonial  times  and 
during  the  first  half  century  after  the  Revolution  were, 
in  the  main,  denominational  or  non-public  institutions^ 
supported,  like  the  primitive  colonial  public  "  grammar 
schools "  and  academies,  bv_endowment  and  by  tuition 
fees,  though _someUmes^-aided--by--pxLbli£_appropriations. 
Their  chief  purpose  was  to  fit  young  men  for  the  profes- 
sions of  law,  medicine,_arui-  the  ministcy.  Little  or  no 
provision  was  made  for  the  higher  education  of  women. 
But  within  the  last  half  of  this  century,  the  enormous  ex- 
pansion of  industrial,  mechanical,  and  commercial  pur- 
suits, has  created  the_imperativejieed  of  a  modified  type 
of  the  higher  education  adapted  to  the  new_enyironmept- 
This  demand  has  been  intensified  by  the  powerful  upward 
pressure  of  the  public  high  schools,  by  the  demands  of 
women  for  equal  education,  and  by  the  more  general  dif- 
fusion of  science  among  men. 

Endowed  State  Universities. — The  germ  of  free  state 
universities  is  found  in  the  land  act  of  July  23,  supple- 
mentary to  the  ordinance  of  1787,  which  reserved  for 
each  new  state  to  be  formed  out  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, two  entire  townships  of  public  lands  (46,080  acres) 
vfor  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  establishment  ty  each  state 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION   8 1 

of  a  ''  seminary  of  learning,"  or,  in  other  words,  a  state 
college,  or  university.  This  original  act  of  1787  set  the 
precedent  for  a  series  of  subsequent  acts  and  land  grants 
by  the  Federal  government  in  aid  of  state  colleges  and 
universities. 

Under  the  land  act  of  1787  and^its  successors  in  direct 
line  up  to  1889,  the  Federal  land  grants  specifically  for 
"  seminaries  of  learning,"  that  is,  state  universities, 
amounted  to  20,000  square  miles,  estimated  to  have  real- 
ized five  millions  of  dollars. 

Many  of  the  states,  following  the  example  of  the  gen- 
eral government,  have  endowed  their  universities  by  grants 
of  state  lands.  But  endowments  furnish  only  an  incidental 
part  of  university  revenue.  Like  other  public  schools, 
the  state  universities  are  supported  mainly^by  direct  state. 


taxation. 

These  universities  are  flourishing  with  great  vigor. 
They  represent  the  best  thought  of  the  American  people. 
They  have  strengthened  and  stimulated  the  high  schools, 
normal  schools,  and  common  schools.  They  are  organized 
in  general  with  elective  courses  of  study  which  include 
■^riVnrp^  a^^welj^^gjjteratiire  and  rPf^^^phj^'^JC'^^  Most  of 
Them,  like  the  common  school  and  the  high  school,  are 
open  to  young  men  and  women  on  equal  conditions. 
They  have  pedagogical  departments  for  the  training  of 
teachers.  They  are  closely  connected  with  the  human 
life  of  to-day.  They  fit  some  students  for  the  professions, 
and  others  for  the  highly  differentiated  industrial,- com- 
mercial, rnechanic^  and  business  pursuits,  of  a  complex 
civilization.  More  than  any  other  agency  they  have 
brought  the  higher  education  home  to  the  common  inter- 
ests of  mankind^  They  have  opened  to  talented  and 
ambitious  students,  gifted  by  nature  but  born  to  poverty, 

AM.  PUB.   SCH. — 6 


82         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

the  doors  of  the  higher  education  which  before  had  been 
barred  by  tuition  fees. 

The  state  universities  in  Ohio,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Michi- 
gan, Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Missouri,  the 
Dakotas,  and  Nebraska,  represent  the  culmination  of 
a  strong  common  school  system  in  the  North  Central 
division  of  states.  In  1897  Michigan  University  had 
2878  students,  including  professional  departments ;  Min- 
nesota, 2647  ;  Illinois,  2356;  and  Wisconsin,  1650. 

The  University  of  Texas,  representing  the  southwest,  is 
the  crown  of  a  public-school  system  richly  endowed  by 
the  reservation  of  the  sixteenth  and  thirty-sixth  sections 
of  each  township  in  the  vast  domain  of  that  state. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  the  State  University  of  California, 
founded  in  1868,  is  a  natural  sequence  of  the  ordinance  of 
1787  and  the  land-grant  act  of  1862.  Its  doors  are  open, 
without  tuition  fees,  to  1700  young  men  and  women 
within  the  university  proper,  and  to  3000  students,  in- 
cluding its  affiliated  colleges  of  law  and  medicine.  It  has 
a  strong  pedagogical  department.  It  has  numerous  elec- 
tive courses  in  language,  literature,  science,  philosophy, 
history,  the  mechanic  arts,  agriculture,  horticulture,  and 
viticulture.  It  is  liberally  supported,  in  the  main,  by 
direct  state  taxation,  though  it  has  an  endowment  fund 
derived  from  state  and  Federal  land  grants,  and  has  re- 
ceived several  large  bequests  from  educational  philan- 
thropists. It  is  an  integral  part  of  the  public-school  sys- 
tem of  California,  intrenched  in  the  state  constitution, 
and  held  in  trust  by  a  board  of  regents  appointed  by  the 
governor  of  the  state. 

California  is  fortunate  in  having  another  free  university 
which,  though  not  under  direct  state  control,  has  all  the 
other  characteristics  of  a  modern  state  university.     Stan- 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION    83 

ford  University,  founded  and  endowed  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Leland  Stanford  (1890),  is  open  to  both  men  and  women; 
it  has  the  elective  system  in  studies ;  it  has  a  department 
of  pedagogics;  it  has  no  tuition  fees.  Opened  in  1891, 
it  has  now  more  than  a  thousand  students. 

The  state  universities  of  Washington  and  Oregon  are 
yet  in  their  infancy,  but  are  rapidly  growing.  In  the 
other  states  of  the  western  mountain  division — Colorado, 
Montana,  Wj^oming,  Idaho,  Utah,  Nevada,  and  the  terri- 
tory of  Arizona — the  public-school  system  is  well  estab- 
lished, and  state  universities  and  colleges  of  agriculture 
and  the  mechanic  arts  are  taking  root. 

In  the  older  states  along  the  rim  of  the  Atlantic,  non- 
public, quasi-public,  and  denominational  colleges  and  uni- 
versities; grown  powerful  by  age  and  by  great  endow- 
ments, still  chiefly  hold  the  field  of  higher  education. 
But  the  tuition  fees  of  most  of  these  institutions  are  not 
high.  Moreover,  many  of  them,  broadened,  liberalized, 
and  modernized,  exercise  most  of  the  functions  of  state 
universities.  To  this  class  belong  Cornell,  Harvard,  Yale, 
Columbia,  Johns  Hopkins,  and  the  universities  of  Penn- 
sylvania, Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  Cornell,  indeed, 
is  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  state  university,  be- 
cause it  has  a  college  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts  richly  endowed  by  the  land  grant  of  the  act  of  Con- 
gress (1862),  and  because  it  annually  receives  a  fixed  num- 
ber of  students  free  from  tuition  rates.  Harvard  Univer- 
sity received  in  its  infancy  liberal  appropriations  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  as  did  Yale  from  Con- 
necticut, Columbia  from  New  York,  and  the  universities 
of  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia 
from  their  several  states. 

University  Departments  of  Pedagogy.  —  The  normal 


84         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

idea  began  to  appear  in  the  State  University  of  Iowa  in 
1855  in  the  form  of  elementary  instruction,  and  in  the 
State  University  of  Missouri  in  1856,  in  which  institution 
it  took  shape  as  a  normal  college  department  in  1867. 
The  early  state-university  pedagogical  departments  were 
established  in  order  of  time  as  follows:  Iowa  (1873); 
Michigan  (1879);  Wisconsin  (1881);  North  Carolina 
(1884);  Indiana  (1886). 

Within  the  decade  of  1887-97  pedagogical  departments 
have  been  opened  in  the  state  universities  of  California, 
Colorado,  Kansas,  I^'evada,  OhioT'Pennsylvania,  Minne- 
sota, Mississippi,  South  Dakota,  South  Carolina,Tennessee, 
Utah,  West  Virginia,  and  Washington.  In  several  other 
state  universities  there  are  classes  of  normal  students, 
but  no  organized  pedagogical  departments.  Pedagogical 
departments  have  also  been  opened  in  numerous  colleges 
j£id  universities  not  underrate  control,  such  as  Cornell, 
Harvard,  Stanford,  Chicago,  Clark,  Brown,  Columbia,  and 
New  York  city. 

It  seems  a  fitting  close  to  this  chapter  to  quote  a 
thought  from  the  president  of  the  oldest  university  in  the 
land,  who  has  been  the  pioneer  in  leading  the  way  up  to 
the  modern  idea  of  elective  courses  of  study  in  all  institu- 
tions of  learning,  whether  public  or  non-public.  Charles 
W.  Eliot  says  :  ^ 

*'  As  a  force  in  the  world,  universal  education  does  not  go  behind 
this  century  in  any  land.  It  does  not  go  back  more  than  twenty  years 
in  such  a  civiHzed  country  as  France.  It  dates  from  1871  in  England. 
Plato  maintained  that  the  producing  or  industrial  classes  needed  no 
education  ;  and  it  is  hardly  more  than  a  hundred  years  since  this  Pla- 
tonic doctrine  began  to  be  seriously  questioned  by  social  philosophers. 
It  is  not  true  yet  that  education  is  universal  even  in  our  own  land  ;  and 

1  "  Educational  Reform"  (1898). 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION    85 

in  all  lands  educational  practice  lags  far  behind  educational  theory. 
In  this  process  of  educational  construction,  so  new,  so  strange,  so  hope- 
ful, I  believe  that  the  chief  principles  and  objects  are  the  same  from 
the  kindergarten  through  the  university  ;  and  therefore,  I  maintain  that 
school  teachers  ought  to  understand  and  sympathize  with  university 
reform  and  progress  and  that  college  and  university  teachers  ought  to 
comprehend  and  aid  school  reform  and  progress." 


COLLEGES  OF  AGRICULTURE  AND   THE    MECHANIC   ARTS. 

Industrial  Education.  —  The  demands  of  modern  in- 
dustrial pursuits  first  found  expression  in  trade  schools 
endowed  by  educational  philanthropists,  m  manual  train- 
ing^chools,  and  in  polytechnic  schools  ofvarious  kinds^ 
The  constitution  ot  MicETgan  (1850)  contained  a  provision 
that  the  legislature  should  provide  for  the  establishment 
of  an  agricultural  school.  Accordingly,  the  first  state  agri- 
cultural school  was  opened  in  1857,  at  Lansing,  the  state 
capital.  In  1850  the  legislature  of  Michigan  petitioned 
Congress  for  an  endowment  of  350,000  acres  of  land  for 
the  agricultural  school  provided  for  in  the  state  constitu- 
tion of  that  year,  but  the  request  was  denied.  It  soon 
became  evident  that  it  would  be  a  wise  policy  for  the 
Federal  government,  following  the  lead  of  the  ordinance 
of  1787,  to  extend  indirect  aid  to  a  higher  grade  of  tech- 
nical institutions  of  learning,  in  which  special  instruction 
should  be  given  in  subjects  relating  to  agriculture  and  the 
mechanic  arts.  Congressman  Justin  S.  Morrill,  of  Ver- 
mont, introduced  a  bill  into  the  House  (1857)  authorizing 
the  establishment  of  industrial  colleges,  and  granting  to 
each  state  20,000  acres  of  public  land  for  each  member  of 
Congress.  In  1858,  the  committee  on  public  lands  made 
an  adverse  report.  At  the  following  session  the  bill  passed 
both  houses,  but  was  vetoed  by  President  Buchanan. 


S6         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

In  i86i  Mr.  Morrill  introduced  an  amended  bill  which 
was  reported  on  adversely  by  the  committee  on  public 
lands,  but  was  passed  in  1862,  and  was  signed  by  Presi- 
dent Lincoln.  This  bill  persistently  followed  up  for  five 
years,  in  the  face  of  the  most  determined  opposition,  en- 
titles Senator  Morrill  to  high  rank  as  an  educational  states- 
man.    This  act  reads,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"  Each  state  now  existing  and  each  new  state  admitted  into  the 
Union  shall  be  entitled  to  as  many  times  30,000  acres  of  public  land 
(not  mineral  bearing)  as  it  had  in  i860,  or  has,  at  the  time  of  its  admis- 
sion, representatives  in  both  houses  of  Congress.  ...  The  interest  of 
the  entire  remaining  gross  proceeds  of  the  grant  shall  be  used  for  the 
endowment,  support,  and  maintenance  of  at  least  one  college  where 
the  leadh  %  object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scientific  and  clas- 
sical studies,  and  including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in  such 
manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  states  may  respectively  prescribe,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  of  life." 

Land-Grant  Colleges. — Under  this  act  New  York  re- 
ceived 990,ocx)  acres;  Pennsylvania,  780,000;  Ohio,  630,- 
000;  Illinois,  480,000;  Indiana,  390,000;  Massachusetts, 
360,000;  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  330,000  each  ;  Virginia 
and  Tennessee,  300,000  each,  and  other  states  in  propor- 
tion to  their  number  of  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress.  This  act  of  1862,  with  its  successors  up  to  1889, 
yielded  a  total  of  10,500,000  acres,  estimated  to  be  worth 
$10,500,000.  Some  of  this  land  was  thrown  upon  the 
market  by  some  states  and  sold  for  fifty  or  sixty  cents  an 
acre.  Most  of  the  land-scrip  issued  to  the  state  of  New 
York  (990,000  acres)  was  bought  by  Ezra  Cornell  for  sixty 
cents  an  acre,  on  condition  that  whatever  amount  exceed- 
ing this  price  was  derived  from  the  sale  of  these  lands  after 
their  location,  should  constitute  a  fund  for  the  support  of 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION    87 

the  agricultural  college  of  Cornell  University.  These 
land  warrants  were  located  with  great  business  foresight 
on  the  pine  timber  lands  of  Wisconsin,  held  for  some 
years,  and  sold  at  an  average  price  of  $6.73  an  acre. 

These  colleges  were  further  aided  by  act  of  Congress,  March  2, 
1887,  which  provided  that  "  there  shall  be  established  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  college  or  colleges,  or  agricultural  departments  of  colleges, 
created  by  the  law  of  1862,  in  each  state,  a  department  to  be  known 
as  an  agricultural  experiment  station,"  and  provided  for  an  annual 
subsidy  of  $1 5,000  to  each  state.  By  the  act  of  Aug.  30,  1890,  to  more 
completely  endow  the  colleges  established  imder  the  law  of  1862,  it 
was  provided  that  the  annual  appropriation  of  $15,000  should  be  sub- 
ject to  an  annual  increase  of  $1,000  until  a  maximum  appropriation  of 
$25,000  annually  should  be  reached.  Provision  was  also  made  for  a 
division  of  this  subsidy  between  one  school  for  white  and  one  for 
colored  students.  The  act  of  1890^  specifies  that  the  appropriation 
shall  "  be  applied  only  to  instruction  in  agriculture,  the  mechanic  arts, 
the  English  language,  and  the  various  branches  of  mathematical,  phy- 
sical, natural,  and  economic  science,  with  special  reference  to  their 
applications  in  the  industries  of  life,  and  to  the  facilities  for  such  in- 
struction." 

These  ^Mand-grant  *'  colleges^  were  regarded,  at  first, 
with  little  favor  by  the'older  classical  institutions.  Small 
and  feeble  in  the  beginning,  most  of  them  have  passed 
through  the  stage  of  experiment.  Standards  of  admission^ 
are  gradually  made  higher,  and  the  number  of  students  is 
rapidly  increasing  year  by  year.  They  are  steadily  grow- 
ing  in  public  favor,  and  are  sending  out  skilled  experts  in 
agricultural,  horticultural,  viticultural,  mechanical,  and 
other  technical  pursuits.  In  a  few  states,  they  have  been 
united  with  other  endowed  institutions,  as  in  New  York 
with  Cornell  University;  in  Indiana  with  Purdue  Uni- 
versity ;  in  New  Jersey  with  the  Rutgers  Scientific  School ; 
in  Vermont  with  the  University  of  Vermont ;  in  Dela- 
ware with   Delaware   College.      They    are   unij^d   with 


f( 


88         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

state  universities  in  California,  Georgia,  Illinois,  Louisi- 
ana, Minnesota,  Missouri,  Maine,  Nebraska,  North  Caro- 
lina, Nevada,  Ohio,  Tennessee,  West  Virginia,  Wisconsin, 
Wyoming,  and  Arizona.  Altogether  there  are  sixty-six 
of  these  institutions,  established  under  the  Morrill  acts  of 
1862  and  1890,  sixteen  of  which  are  college  departments 
of  universities,  and  the  remainder  are  separate  institutions. 
The  sixteen  colleges  which  are  departments  of  state 
universities  practically  maintain  a  standard  of  admission 
equal  to  that  of  other  department  colleges  in  the  uni- 
versity ;  that  is,  the  completion  of  a  high-school  course  for 
admission  to  the  freshman  class.  The  larger  class  of 
separate  colleges,  especially  in  the  newer  states,  must  re- 
ceive its  students  from  the  eighth  or  ninth  grade  of  the 
public  schools.  In  other  words,  the  standard  forthe  time 
being  is  determined  by  conditions.  This  flexibility  is  in 
accord  with  the  wisdom  with  which  the  common-school 
system  has  been  adapted  to  meet  successive  stages  of  the 
political,  social,  and  industrial  advancement  of  the  people. 
These  colleges  are  winning  their  way  in  the  face  of  criti- 
cism, opposition,  and  ridicule  as  did  the  common  school, 
the  high  school,  and  the  normal  school  in  the  days  of 
their  beginnings.  Altogether  they  have  an  annual  rev- 
enue of  $6,000,000,  and  give  instruction  to  about  30,000 
students. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Association  of  American  Agricultural  Col- 
leges and  Experiment  Stations,i  Nov.  10,  1896,  the  Chairman,  Presi- 
dent J.  E.  Stubbs,  President  of  the  State  University  of  Nevada,  made 
an  interesting  summary  of  admission  conditions,  and  courses  of  in- 
struction offered  in  these  colleges,  from  which  the  following  brief 
statements  are  drawn  :  "  Out  of  46  colleges  reporting,  16  have  no  sub- 
freshman  class  and  30  have  preparatory  departments.     The  institu- 

1  See  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1896-97,  Vol.  i. 

0- 


SECONDARY  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION   89 

tions  which  have  no  preparatory  departments  are  chiefly  in  the  wealthy 
and  populous  states  where  there  are  first-class  high  schools  in  all  cities 
and  towns.  In  the  newer  and  less  populous  states  a  well-tequipped 
preparatory  school  of  high-school  grade,  with  courses  of  studies  cov- 
ering a  period  of  three  or  four  years,  is  a  necessity,  and  will  continue 
a  necessity  for  many  years  to  come."  As  to  four-years'  courses  of 
study  in  these  colleges,  the  statement  is  made  that  California,  Purdue, 
Kentucky,  Minnesota,  Cornell,  Virginia,  and  Wyoming,  offer  7  ;  Del- 
iivvare,  Idaho,  Tennessee,  and  Wisconsin,  6  ;  13  give  from  4  to  5  ;  and 
14  give  one  and  two  courses  with  numerous  electives. 

Federal  Aid  for  Higher  Education.  —  In  the  report _of_ 
the  Commissioner  of  Education  (1896-97),  there  is  found 
a  report  (Chapter  XXIII),  giving,  in  a  condensed  form  the 
amount  of  Federal  and  state  aid  for  the  establishment  of 


higher  education.  Thetotal  amount  given  by  the  United 
States  for  state  universities,  act  of  July  23,  1787,  and  its 
successors  in  direct  line  up  to  1889,  is  20,000  square  miles, 
ofpubHc  land,  realizing  five  millions  of  dollars  ;  for  State 
Colleges  of  Agriculture  and  the  Mechanic  Arts,  act  of 
July  2,  1862,  and  its  successors,  up  to  1889,  15,000  square 
miles,,  realizing  ten  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  ;  lands 
granted  by  act  admitting  seven  new  states  since  1889, 
3,260  square  miles,  realizing  $20,864,000.  The  annual 
appropriations  of  money  from  the  United  States  treasury 
towards  the  support  of  agricultural  colleges  and  experi- 
ment stations,  by  acts  of  1887  and  1890,  capitalized  at 
four  per  cent.,  would  represent  an  endowment  fund  of 
$44,400,000. 

The  increasing  power  of  state  universities,  agricultural 
and  mechanical  colleges  and   similar  public    institutions 


under  jnunicipaT  control,   is  made  evideiit  by  the  latest 
educat ion_al  stat isUcs. _^. 

The  total  enrollment  of  graduate  and  undergraduate  students  re- 
ported by  public  institutions  for  higher  education  was  27,654,  an  in- 


go 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


crease  of  1,358  over  the  previous  year.  The  total  number  of  students 
reported  in  the  collegiate,  graduate,  and  professional  departments  of 
institutio  is  for  higher  education,  public  and  private,  and  in  professional 
schools,  of  all  kinds,  was  140,1^3,  of  which  number  42,999  were  en- 
rolled as  professional  students  pursuing  studies  in  law,  medicine,  and 
theology,  leaving  97,134  students  reported  as  pursuing  what  are  gen- 
erally known  as  liberal  studies.  Of  this  latter  number,  27,654  students 
belong  to  public  institutions,  and  69,480  in  private,  parochial,  and 
other  non-public  institutions. 

Higher  Education.  —  In  a  paper  read  before  the  American  Social 
Science  Association,  December,  1898,1  William  T.  Harris  made  the 
following  statements  relativ^e  to  the  higher  education  : 

"  In  1872  the  records  of  higher  education  show  for  the  entire  nation 
an  enrollment  of  590  students  in  each  million  of  inhabitants, — a  little 
more  than  one  college  student,  on  an  average,  for  each  community  of 
two  thousand  population.  Not  only  did  the  growth  of  schools  for 
higher  education  keep  up  with  the  growth  in  population,  but  the  en- 
rollment increased,  year  by  year,  until  in  1895,  instead  of  590  students 
we  had  1 190  in  each  million.  The  quota  had  doubled,  and  it  has  since 
increased.  .  .  .  The  number  of  students  reported  as  engaged  in  post- 
graduate work  in  all  our  colleges  and  universities  in  1872  was  only  189. 
This  has  steadily  increased,  doubling  once  in  five  or  six  years  until  in 
1897  the  number  was  4419.  They  are  twenty-five  times  as  numerous. 
Professional  students,  too,  have  increased.  The  number  studying  law, 
medicine,  and  theology  in  1872  was  only  280  in  each  million  of  inhab- 
itants. In  1896  the  280  had  become  740  in  the  million.  In  the  same 
quarter  of  the  century,  scientific  and  technical  schools  have  multiplied. 
In  the  six  years  from  1890  to  1896  the  number  of  students  in  engi- 
neering and  applied  science  increased  from  15,000  to  24,000." 

NATIONAL    SCHOOLS. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  Indian  schools  on  various 
Indian  reservations  and  in  Alaska,  there  are  only  two 
great  national  schools  established  bYactof  Congress  and 
supportecientireiy  by^irect  appropriations  of  national 

1  Journal  of  American  Social  Science  Association,  1898. 


SECONDAR  V  AND  HIGHER  PUBLIC  EDUCATION 


91 


revenue.  These  are  the  United  States  Military  Academy 
^t  West  Point  (1802),  and  the  United  States  Naval 
Academy  at  Annapolis  (1845).  They  are  not  usually 
considered  as  public  schools,  but  they  form  in  reality  an 
important  part  of  the  American  system  of  public  educa- 
tion. They  were  established  for  training  men  in  the  art 
of  war,  and  for  purposes  of  national  defense.  Their  an- 
nual cost  is  over  $800,000.  Their  value  has  been  proved 
in  every  war  since  their  establishment,  but  was  never 
more  clearly  demonstrated  than  in  the  recent  war  with 
Spain.  The  skilled  naval  officers  who  destroyed  the 
Spanish  navy  at  Manila  and  off  Santiago  were  educated 
in  the  Naval  Academy.  All  these  great  sea-captains  write 
in  praise  of  the  skill  and  valor  of  the  engineers,  gunners, 
firemen,  and  seamen  who  were  trained  in  technical  schools, 
and  common  schools.  West  Point  supplied,  in  part,  the 
trained  army  officers.  The  rank  and  file  who  stormed  the 
Spanish  intrenchments  at  El  Caney  and  San  Juan  had 
been  trained,  some  in  common  schools,  some  in  high 
schools,  some  in  college  and  university,  but  whether 
regulars  or  volunteers,  ex-federals  or  ex-confederates,  cow- 
boys, or  college  graduates,  they  proved  themselves  equals 
in  patriotism  and  valor. 

A  NATIONAL   UNIVERSITY.  ^ 

There  remains  one  more  stage  of  development  tocom- 
plete  the  American  public-school_systern,  —  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  free  national  university  in  the  national  rap- 
ital,  which  shall  utilize  the  great  museums  and  libraries 
and  government  scientific  departments  at  Washington, 
and  represent  the  culmination  of  the  free  state  universi- 
ties in  one  national  institution  of  learning  such  as  George 


92         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Washington  hoped  for  when  he  bequeathed  in  his  will 
half  of  his  estate  towards  that  noble  end.  In  1796,  Pres- 
ident Washington,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  urged  the 
establishment  of  a  national  university  as  well  as  a  military 
academy.  His  reasons  for  desiring  a  national  university 
are  set  forth  as  follows : 

"  True  it  is  that  our  country  contains  many  seminaries  of  learning 
highly  respectable  and  useful ;  but  the  funds  upon  which  they  rest  are 
too  narrow  to  command  the  ablest  professors  in  the  different  depart- 
ments of  liberal  knowledge  for  the  institution  contemplated,  though 
they  would  be  excellent  auxiliaries.  Among  the  motives  to  such  an 
institution  the  assimilation  of  principles,  opinions,  and  manners  of  our 
countrymen  by  the  common  education  of  a  portion  of  our  youth  from 
every  quarter  well  deserves  attention  ;  the  more  homogeneous  our 
citizens  can  be  made  in  these  particulars,  the  greater  will  be  our  pros- 
pects of  permanent  union ;  and  a  primary  object  of  such  a  national 
institution  should  be  the  education  of  our  youth  in  the  science  of 
government." 

At  various  intervals  during  an  entire  century,  Washington's  recom- 
mendation has  been  a  subject  of  discussion,  but  not  of  legislation.  In 
1899,  President  David  Starr  Jordan  says  of  it :  "  In  matters  of  educa- 
tion, no  other  agency  can  take  the  place  of  the  combined  effort  of  the 
people.  To  the  end  that  a  great  university,  worthy  of  a  growing  na- 
tion, should  be  established  at  the  national  capital,  Washington  left  a 
large  part  of  his  property  in  trust  to  Congress  to  form  the  nucleus  of 
such  an  establishment.  The  scholars  and  investigators  now  main- 
tained at  Washington  exert  an  influence  far  beyond  that  of  their  offi- 
cial position.  To  the  force  of  high  training  and  academic  self-devotion 
is  to  be  traced  the  immense  influence  exerted  in  Washington  by  Joseph 
Henry,  Spencer  F.  Baird,  and  Brown  Goode.  Of  such  men  as  these 
are  universities  made.  When  such  men  are  systematically  selected 
from  our  body  of  university  professors  and  brought  to  Washington 
and  allowed  to  surround  themselves  with  like  men  of  the  next  genera- 
tion, we  shall,  indeed,  have  a  national  capital.  A  university  is  simply  ) 
a  contrivance  for  making  wisdom  effective  by  surrounding  wise  men 
with  the  conditions  most  favorable  for  rendering  wisdom  contagious." 


CHAPTER  IV 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

THE   SOUTHERN   STATES 

Reconstruction.  —  When  the  Civil  War  was  over  and 
reconstruction  completed,  the  people  of  the  Southern 
states  took  up  the  common-school  question  with  all  the 
zeal  of  the  early  educational  reformers  in  the  North  dur- 
ing the  days  of  Horace  Mann  and  Henry  Barnard.  "The 
South,"  says  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo,  "  that  so  long  remained 
outside  the  expanding  circle  of  the  common  school,  has 
responded  to  the  cry  of  the  children  during  the  last 
twenty  years  by  the  most  remarkable  achievement  in  the 
organization  and  support  of  popular  education  recorded 
in  history." 

During  the  reconstruction  period  (1866-76)  all  the 
Southern  states  made  provisions  in  their  new  constitu- 
tions  for  establishing  a  system  of  free  public^  schools. 
"The^siluatrdn  was  complicated,  because  separate  schools 
were  required  for  the  children  of  the  colored  race.  More- 
over, civil  government  was  unsettled,  and  the  people, 
exhausted  by  the  Civil  War,  were  poon  The  pioneer 
educators  in  the  new  states  of  the  Northwest  or  of  the 
Pacific  states  can  realize  from  their  own  experience,  in 
some  measure,  the  untiring  efforts  and  devotion  to  duty 
necessary  to  provide  for  a  general  system  of  education, — 
a  work  which  required  the  combined  energies  of  edu- 
cators, philanthropists,  and  statesmen. 

93 


94         HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

The  preliminary  steps  were  taken  when  General  John 
Eaton,  afterwards  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education,  was 
ordered  by  General  Grant  to  look  after  the  freedmen  in 
Tennessee  and  Arkansas,  and  to  open  schools  for  colored 
children  wherever  it  was  possible  to  do  so.  In  1864  a 
considerable  number  of  schools  was  opened  in  and  around 
Vicksburg  and  Memphis,  so  that  in  1865  the  reports 
showed  a  school  attendance  of  7000  pupils. 

The  Freedman's  Bureau.  —  The  Freedman's  Bureau, 
attached  to  the  War  Department,  was  organized  in  1865, 
and  a  partof  its  work  was  educational.  General  O.  O. 
Howard,  the  Commissioner,  entered  vigorously  on  his 
duties.  In  1867  he  reported  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
that  $115,000  had  been  expended  for  schools.  His  later 
official  reports  show  that,  from  1866  to  1870,  about 
$2,600,000  was  expended  for  school  purposes. 

Dr.  J.  M.  L.  Curry  states  that  the  American  Missionary 
Association  was  the  chief  body,  apart  from  the  govern- 
ment, in  the  great  enterprise  of  meeting  the  needs  of  the 
colored  race.  Its  expenditures  from  i860  to  1893  in  the 
South  for  freedmen,  including  church  extension  as  well 
as  education,  amounted  to  $11,600,000. 

The  Peabody  Fund. — George  Peabody,  educated  in  a 
Massachusetts  common  school,  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
board  of  trustees  of  which  Robert  C.  Winthrop  was  presi- 
dent (1867),  a  fund  of  $2,000,000  to  be  used  "for  the 
promotion  and  encouragement  of  intellectual,  moral,  or 
industrial  education  among  the  young  of  the  more  des- 
titute portions  of  the  Southern  states  of  our  Union." 

Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  the  general  agent  of  the  trustees, 
wisely  presented  the  plan  of  confining  aid  to  public 
schools,  allowing  them  partial  support,  but  requiring  the 
people  to  tax  themselves  for  the  remainder  necessary  to 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL   WAR 


95 


maintain  the  schools.  He  said :  "  The  object  of  the 
Peabody  Education  Fund  is  free  schools  for  the  whole 
people,  neither  more  nor  less.  We  have  nothing  in  view 
but  what  is  comprised  therein." 

Robert  C.  Winthrop,  president  of  the  trustees,  said  in  his  address 
at  the  Yorktown  Centennial  celebration  :  "  There  must  be  aids  and 
appropriations,  and  endowments  by  cities  and  states,  and  by  the  nation 
at  large  through  its  public  lands  if  in  no  other  way,  and  to  an  amount 
compared  with  which  the  gift  of  George  Peabody — munificent  as  it  was 
for  an  individual  benefaction — is  but  the  small  dust  of  the  balance. 
.  .  .  The  whole  field  of  our  Union  is  now  open  to  education,  and  the 
whole  field  of  the  Union  must  be  occupied.  This  government  must 
stand  or  fall  with  free  schools.  These  and  these  alone  can  supply  the 
firm  foundation,  and  that  foundation  must,  at  this  very  moment,  be  ex- 
tended and  strengthened  and  rendered  immovable  and  indestructible." 

The  Slater  Fund.— John  F.  Slater,  educated  in  a 
Rhode  Island  common  school  and  academy,  made  a  be- 
quest of  $1,000,000  (1882),  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of 
a  board  of  trustees,  of  which  Rutherford  B.  Hayes  was 
president.  The  income  from  this  fund  was  to  be  ex- 
pended in  aiding  education  in  the  Southern  states.  In 
his  letter  to  the  trustees  Mr.  Slater  expresses  his  pur- 
pose as  follows :  "  The  general  object  which  I  desire  to 
have  exclusively  pursued,  is  the  uplifting  of  the  lately 
emancipated  population  of  the  Southern  states,  and  their 
posterity,  by  conferring  on  them  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tian education.  .  .  .  But  it  is  not  only  for  their  own  sake, 
but  also  for  the  safety  of  our  common  country  in  which 
they  have  been  invested  with  equal  political  rights,  that 
I  am  desirous  to  aid  them  with  the  means  of  such  educa- 
tion as  shall  tend  to  make  them  good  men  and  good 
citizens.  .  .  .  The  means  to  be  used  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  general  object  above  described  I  leave  to  the  discre- 
tion of  the  corporation,  only  indicating  as  lines  of  opera- 


96         HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

tion  adapted  to  the  present  condition  of  things,  the  train- 
ing of  teachers  from  among  the  people  required  to  be 
taught."  The  trustees  decided  that  students  should  be 
trained  in  some  manual  occupation  simultaneously  with 
their  mental  and  moral  instruction,  and  confined  their 
aid  exclusively  to  such  institutions  "•  as  were,  with  good 
reason,  believed  to  be  on  a  permanent  basis."  The  trus- 
tees paid  out  for  educational  aid  from  1884  to  1894  the 
sum  of  $439,000. 

Dr.  J.  L.  M,  Curry,  secretary  of  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund,  in  an  ex- 
haustive paper  on  the  "  Education  of  the  Negroes  since  i860,"  ^  makes 
the  following  statements  in  relation  to  education  in  the  South :  "  All 
the  states  of  the  South,  as  soon  as  they  recovered  their  governments, 
put  in  operation  systems  of  public  schools  which  gave  equal  opportuni- 
ties and  privileges  to  both  races.  It  would  be  singularly  unjust  not  to 
consider  the  difficulties — social,  political,  and  pecuniary — which  em- 
barrassed the  South  in  the  efforts  to  inaugurate  free  education.  It 
required  unusual  heroism  to  adapt  to  the  new  conditions,  but  she  was 
equal  in  fidelity  and  energy  to  what  was  demanded  for  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  society  and  civil  institutions.  The  complete  enfranchisement 
of  the  negroes  and  their  new  political  relations,  as  the  result  of  the  war 
and  the  new  amendments  to  the  Constitution,  necessitated  an  entire 
reorganization  of  the  systems  of  public  education.  Comparisons  with 
densely  populated  sections  are  misleading,  for  in  the  South  the  sparse- 
ness  and  poverty  of  the  population  are  almost  a  preventive  of  good 
schools.  Still  the  results  have  been  marvelous.  .  .  .  The  urban  pop- 
ulation is  small  and  agriculture  is  the  chief  occupation.  Of  the  858,- 
000  negroes  in  Georgia,  130,000  are  in  cities  and  towns  and  728,000  in 
the  country  ;  in  Mississippi,  urban  colored  population  42,000,  rural  700,- 
000  ;  in  South  Carolina,  urban  66,000  ;  against  498,000  rural ;  in  Ala- 
bama, 65,000  against  613,000;  in  Louisiana,  93,000  against  466,000. 
While  the  colored  population  supplies  less  than  its  due  proportion  of 
pupils  to  the  public  schools,  and  the  regularity  of  attendance  is  less 
than  with  the  white,  yet  the  difference  in  length  of  school  terms  in 
schools  for  white  and  schools  for  black  children  is  trifling.     In  the 

1  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  Vol.  2,  1894-95. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER   TH, 


same  grades  the  wages  of  teachers  are  about  the  same.  The  annual 
State  school  revenue  is  apportioned  impartially  among  white  and  black 
children,  so  much  per  capita  to  each  child." 

In  1893-94,  the  common-school  enrollment  of  colored 
pupils  in  the  sixteen  former  slave  states  and  the  District 
of  Columbia  was  1,425,000  as  against  an  enrollment  of 
white  pupils  of  3,835,000.  "  In  1880,  on  my  first  visit  to 
the  South,"says  Dr.  Mayo,  "  I  found  these  public  schools 
everywhere  acknowledged  models  and  centers  of  light. 
Their  boards  of  education  were  composed  of  the  leading 
men  of  the  community,  who  gave  character  to  the  move- 
ment and  from  the  first  assured  its  success.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  make  a  Northern  public  fully  understand  the 
enthusiasm  I  witnessed  in  scores  of  villages  and  cities,  ex- 
tending the  *  whole  region  roundabout,'  awakened  by  the 
strange  and  beautiful  spectacle  of  all  the  children  going 
to  school  together,  instructed,  disciplined,  and  interested 
in  a  way  that  had  never  been  known  before  in  the 
memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant." 

School  Organization.  —  The  following  exact  statement 
is  quoted  from  an  exhaustive  paper  on  "  The  Social  Unit 
in  the  Public  School  System  of  the  United  States,"  by 
Mr.  Wellford  Addis,  Specialist  in  the  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation :  1 

"  It  seems  legitimate  to  conclude  that  the  school  systems  of  the 
southeastern  and  southern  coast  are  systems  of  state  schools,  while  in 
Massachusetts,  to. take  the  most  striking  example,  the  school  system 
is  a  town  (ship)  system,  though  most  freely  directed  by  the  legislature 
to  carry  out  reforms  or  inaugurate  innovations.  Five  Southern  states 
have  a  county  board  as  the  real  local  school  authority.  In  one  of 
these  (Florida)  the  county  is  divided  into  three  districts,  and  a  member 
of  the  board  is  elected  from  each  ;  in  another  (Georgia)  the  grand  jury 
choose  the  county  board  ;  in  another  (Mississippi)  the  county  board  is 

2  See  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  Vol.  2,  1894-95. 

AM.    PUB.   SCH. — 7 


98         HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

composed  of  a  member  from  each  supervisor's  district  appointed  by 
the  states  uperintendent,  and  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  the  county  board 
is  appointed  by  the  governor.  The  other  states  of  our  southern  coast 
have  a  county  superintendent  as  the  local  school  authority,  who  is 
appointed  in  Alabama  and  Virginia  by  the  state  superintendent,  and 
in  South  Carolina  (under  the  old  law)  by  the  people. 

"  North  Carolina  has  no  county  superintendent,  and  its  schools  are 
under  authority  of  its  '  county  commissioners  '  sitting  as  a  '  county 
board  of  education.'  The  more  local  or  district  authority,  as  far  as  it 
occurs,  is  appointed  by  the  county  authority,  except  in  Mississippi,  where 
the  '  patrons*  elect  three  district  trustees,  and  in  Virginia,  where  an 
electoral  board,  composed  of  the  county  judge,  commonwealth  attor- 
ney, and  county  superintendent,  elect  the  district  boards  for  the  school 
subdivisions  of  the  county." 

Recent  Statistics.  —  The  report  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Education  (1896-97),  shows  that  the  total  school  enroll- 
ment in  the  sixteen  Southern  states  and  the  District  of 
Columbia  was  5,398,000,  the  number  of  colored  pupils 
being  1,460,000,  and  the  number  of  white  pupils  3,938,000. 
In  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  South  Carolina  the  colored 
school  population  exceeds  the  white  school  population. 
The  total  expenditure  for  the  public  schools  of  this  sec- 
tion was  $31,145,000.  The  estimated  cost  of  colored 
schools  alone  is  $6,575,000.  Since  1870  the  total  amount 
of  money  expended  in  the  Southern  states  has  reached 
$514,922,000,  of  which  it  is  estimated  that  $100,000,000 
has  been  expended  on  schools  for  colored  children. 

Secondary  and  Higher  Education. — The  Report  of 
1896-97  shows  that  in  the  169  schools  of  all  kinds,  public 
and  private,  in  the  United  States,  exclusively  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  colored  race,  there  was  an  enrollment  of 
45,402  students.  Of  these  schools  all  but  nine  were  in  the 
Southern  states.  In  the  secondary  grades  there  were 
15,203  students,  and  in  collegiate  grades  2108  students. 
Separate    state    institutions    belonging  to   the   class   of 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER   THE  CIVH   WAR 


99 


"  land-grant "  colleges,  receiving  their  share  of  the  Con- 
gressional subsidy  for  such  colleges,  have  been  established 
for  colored  students  in  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Delaware, 
Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Mississippi, 
Missouri,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Texas,  Virginia, 
and  West  Virginia.  One  of  the  most  notable  of  these 
schools  is  the  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 
in  Virginia  (1870).  Dr.  Mayo  tells  the  story  of  this  school 
as  follows  : 

"  The  one  great  educational  genius  developed  by  the  Civil  War  was 
General  S.  C.  Armstrong.  Born  in  Hawaii,  educated  in  Massachusetts, 
a  brave  soldier  and  a  worker  with  the  colored  people  during  the  war, 
he  established  at  Hampton,  close  by  the  beach  where  the  first  slave 
ship  landed,  the  most  original  and  characteristically  American  and  mis- 
sionary organization  for  the  uplifting  of  the  humbler  classes,  still  the 
majority  of  mankind,  now  in  existence.  The  Hampton  system  com- 
bines all  that  can  be  done  for  the  lower  orders  of  mankind  in  one 
institution.  It  organizes  worship  on  unsectarian  basis,  establishes 
military  discipline  and  training  in  a  soldier's  life  for  the  boys,  compels 
every  pupil  to  learn  some  method  for  self-support,  introduces  the  girls 
to  new  modern  ways  of  home  life,  organizes  the  principal  industrial 
occupations,  gives  instruction  in  English  in  a  good  graded  system, 
with  a  great  normal  school  at  the  center  for  teachers,  and  through  its 
summer  schools  reaches  outward.  On  the  one  hand,  it  joins  hands 
with  the  state  of  Virginia,  and  on  the  other,  with  the  nation,  in  the 
training  of  the  negro  and  the  Indian,  and  with  no  complications  ap- 
peals to  the  American  people  for  support.  Armstrong  wore  himself 
out  in  a  ministry  of  education,  died  in  middle  life,  and,  like  the  good 
soldier  he  was,  asked  for  a  soldier's  funeral." 

The  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  Ala- 
bama, receives  from  the  state  a  small  appropriation,  and  is 
further  aided  by  contributions  from  philanthropists.  The 
story  of  this  school  is  an  object  lesson  in  education,  and 
I  let  the  founder  and  president  of  the  institution  give  it 
in  his  own  words.     In  an  address  on  the  "  Industrial  Edu- 


lOO       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

cation   of   the    Blacks"  ^  (1896),  Booker   T.  Washington 
spoke,  in  part,  as  follows : 

"  I  was  born  a  slave  on  a  plantation  in  Virginia  in  1857  or  1858,  I 
think.  .  .  .  With  the  long  prayed  freedom  in  actual  possession,  my 
mother  decided  to  locate  in  West  Virginia.  Soon  after,  I  began  work 
in  the  coal  mines  for  the  support  of  my  mother.  While  doing  this  I 
heard  in  some  way  of  General  Armstrong's  school  at  Hampton,  Va. 
I  heard  at  the  same  time  that  it  was  a  school  where  a  poor  boy  could 
work  for  his  education  so  far  as  his  board  was  concerned.  I  began  at 
once  to  save  every  nickel  I  could  get  hold  of.  At  length,  with  my 
own  savings  and  a  little  help  from  my  brother  and  mother,  I  started 
for  Hampton.  ...  I  at  once  found  General  Armstrong  and  told  him 
what  I  had  come  for,  and  what  my  condition  was.  In  his  great  hearty 
way  he  said  that  if  I  was  worth  anything  he  would  give  me  a  chance 
to  work  my  way  through  the  institution.  ...  While  at  Hampton  I 
resolved,  if  God  permitted  me  to  finish  the  course  of  study,  I  would 
enter  the  far  South,  the  black  belt  of  the  Gulf  States,  and  give  my 
life  in  providing  as  best  I  could  the  same  kind  of  chance  for  self-help 
for  the  youth  of  my  race  that  I  found  ready  for  me  when  I  went  to 
Hampton,  and  so  in  188 1  I  left  Hampton  and  went  to  Tuskegee  and 
started  the  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute  in  a  small  church  and  a 
shanty,  with  one  teacher  and  30  students.  Since  then  the  institution 
of  Tuskegee  has  grown  till  we  have  connected  with  it  69  instructors 
and  800  young  men  and  women  representing  19  states.  .  .  .  From  the 
first,  industrial  or  hand  training  has  been  made  a  special  feature  of  our 
work.  While  friends  at  the  North  and  elsewhere  have  given  us  money 
to  pay  our  teachers  and  to  buy  material  which  we  could  not  produce, 
still,  very  largely  by  the  labor  of  our  students,  we  have  built  up  within 
about  fourteen  years  a  property  that  is  now  valued  at  $225,000;  37 
buildings,  counting  large  and  small,  located  on  1,400  acres  of  land,  all 
except  three  of  which  are  the  product  of  student  labor." 

Taxation  for  Public  Schools. — The  burden  of  school 
taxation^in  the  Southern  states  has  been  heavy  and  it 
must  long  remain  so.     The  people  fully  realize  that  while 

^  Address  at  the  dinner  in  honor  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y.,  1896.     Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  Vol.  2,  1894-95. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  'AFTER   THE  CIVH   WAR      loi 

endowments,  bequests,  and  denominational  appropriations 
may  aid  them,  to  some  extent,  in  educating  some  of  the 
children,  the  main  support  of  the  public  schools  for  the 
great  mass  of  children  must  be  derived  from  a  regular  and 
unintermittent  revenue  derived  from  state  and  local  tax- 
ation. Heavy  as  the  burden  is,  it  is  no  greater,  relatively, 
than  it  was  in  New  England  during  the  period  when  the 
common  schools  first  gained  a  foothold  in  the  world.  The 
graded  schools  of  cities  and  large  towns  in  the  South  now 
differ  buMrttle  from  the  urban  schools  in  other  parts  of 
the  United  States;  the jniral  schqols,  as  in  all  other 
sparsely  populated  states,  will  be  subject,  as  in  other 
states,  to  slow  develo^pment. 

THE   PACIFIC   STATES. 

For  a  brief  typical  study  of  this  section,  we  may  take 
California,  which  was  acquired  by  conquest  in  the  Mexican 
War  and  was  ceded  by  Mexico  to  the  United  States  in 

1848.  Owing  to  the  discovery  of  gold  this  region  was 
rapidly  filled  up  by  emigrants  from  every  state  in  our  own 
country  and  from  most  of  the  nations  of  the  old  world. 
California  was  admitted  as  a  state  (1850)  without  the 
usual  preliminary  stage  of  a  territorial  government.  The 
state  constitution,  framed  and  adopted  by  the  people  in 

1849,  provided  for  the  election  of  a  state  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  by  the  people  for  a  term  of  three 
years ;  made  it  the  duty  of  the  legislature  to  "  provide 
for  a  system  of  common  schools  by  which  a  school  should 
be  kept  up  in  each  school  district  at  least  three  months  in 
every  year ;  and  provided  that  the  proceeds  of  school  lands 
should  constitute  a  perpetual  fund  to  be  inviolably  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  common  schools,  and  to  protect 
any  land  grants  for  a  state  university." 


HIS  TOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

State  Legislation. — At  the  first  session  of  the  legisla- 
ture (1849-50)  no  school  law  was  enacted,  the  Commit- 
tee on  Education  reporting  "  that  the  taxes  laid  on  the 
people,  for  state,  county,  and  municipal  purposes  were 
so  heavy,  the  committee  did  not  deem  it  advisable  to 
report  a  bill  to  tax  the  people  still  further  for  the  support 
of  public  schools."  At  the  second  session  of  the  state 
legislature  (1850-51)  a  school  law  was  enacted,  provTdTng" 
toFThe  subdiyisfon-gTc^o unties  into  schootjlstricts  ;  for  a 
district  school  committee  of  three,  elected  annually  by 
"direct  vote  of  the  people  ;  gave  the  school  committees 
power  to  build  schoolhouses,  to  examine  and  j^point 
teachers,  and  to  report  to  the  state  superintendent. 
David  C.  Broderick,  afterward  U.  S.  senator  from  Cali- 
fornia, educated  when  a  boy  in  the  public  schools  of  New 
York  city,  was  an  active  supporter  of  this  bill.  In  1852, 
the  imperfect  act  of  the  preceding  year  was  amended  by 
making  county  assessors  ex  officio  school  superintendents  ; 
and  by  authorizing  counties  to  levy  a  school  tax  *'  not  to 
exceed  three  cents  on  a  hundred  dollars  " — a  meager  pro- 
vision for  a  flourishing  and  already  populous  state. 

This  law  also  contained  a  section  which  enabled  the 
parochial  schools  to  secure  a  pro  rata  of  the  public  school 
moneys,  a  provision  which  led  to  several  bitter  contests 
in  the  state  legislature  for  a  period  of  ten  years. 

School  Beginnings. — Meanwhile,  the  people  of  Ameri- 
can  descent  set  to  work  and  organized  schools,  after  the^ 
rnarmerjDt  thetF^ncestors  on  the  A t]antic_coast  in  early 
days,  without_anyi^-law  other  than  local  ordinances^  In  the 
town  of  San  Francisco,  October  11,  1847,  a  committee  of 
"  Town  Council  "  (Ayuntamiento  )  built  a  small  one-room 
schoolhouse  on  the  corner  of  the  town  plaza  (now  Ports- 
mouth Square),  and  on  February  23,  1848,  a  small  num- 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVH   WAR      103 

ber  of  townsmen  held  a  meeting  and  elected  the  first 
school  committee  in  California,  consisting  of  seven  mem- 
bers. This  school  committee  appointed  as  teacher, 
Thomas  Douglass,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College.  The 
school  was  opened  in  April,  1848,  with  six  pupils.  This 
was  a  public  school,  mainly  supported  by  tuition  fees,  but 
indigents  were  admitted  as  charity  pupils,  after  the 
manner  that  prevailed  in  public  and  parish  schools  two 
hundred  years  before  in  Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  New 
York.  The  town  council  agreed  to  pay  for  these  charity 
pupils  the  sum  of  $400  towards  the  support  of  the  school. 
But  this  school  was  short-lived.  When  the  stampede  for 
the  gold  mines  became  general  the  school  dwindled  down 
to  eight  pupils,  and  schoolmaster  Douglass  joined  the 
prospectors  and  set  out  for  the  mountains.  In  December, 
1849,  ■'^^-  ^'^^  Mrs.  John  C.  Pelton  opened  a  school  sup- 
ported by  "  voluntary  subscriptions,"  but  free  to  the 
"  children  of  the  poor."  This  school  was  made  a  free 
public  school  by  ordinance  of  the  Common  Council  of 
San  Francisco,  April  8,  1850,  and  John  C.  Pelton  was 
appointed  as  teacher,  in  which  position  he  continued 
until  September  25,  185 1.  During  this  period  (1848-51), 
numerous  small  private  schools  and  denominational 
schools  were  opened  in  San  Francisco  and  other  parts  of 
California  where  the  population  had  become  grouped  into 
villages  and  small  towns,  such  as  Sacramento,  Stockton, 
San  Jose,  Santa  Clara,  Nevada  City,  Grass  Valley,  Rough 
and  Ready,  etc.  At  this  time  the  total  number  of  chil- 
dren in  the  state  between  4  and  18  years  of  age  was 
estimated  to  be  about  6,000.  Outside  of  San  Francisco, 
there  were  only  a  few  feeble  public  schools,  and  the  his- 
tory of  these  is  known  only  by  tradition.^ 

iSwett's  "  History  of  the  Public  School  System  of  California." 


I04       HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Further  State  Legislation.  — At  thethird  sessionjof  JJie 
Legislature  (1851-52)  Frank  Soule,  chairman  of  the 
senate  committee  on  education,  made  an  able  report  in 
favor  of  common  schools  and  introduced  a  revised  school 
law  containing  several  important  provisions  in  advance. 
/^This  law,  as  approved  May  3,  1852,  created  a  state  board 
of  education,  consisting  of  the  governor,  surveyor  gen- 
eral, and  state  superintendent ;  defined  the  duties  of 
all  school  officers ;  authorized  the  common  council  in 
incorporated  towns  to  raise  a  school  tax  not  to  exceed 
three  cents  on  a  hundred  dollars,  and  fixed  the  county 
tax  at  the  same  rate ;  and  provided  that  no  school  should 
receive  any  apportionment  of  public  money  unless  free 
from  all  denominational  and  sectarian  bias,  control,  or 
influence  whatever.  This  last  provision  was  rendered 
necessary  from  the  fact  that  under  the  previous  law  (185 1- 
52),  parochial  schools  had  obtained  a  pro  rata  of  public 
moneys. 

School  Beginnings  in  San  Francisco,  1851-53.  —  The 
first  city  school  ordinance  passed  under  the  state  school 
law  of  185 1,  was  that  of  San  Francisco,  adopted  Septem- 
ber, 185 1,  which  provided  for  a  city  board  of  education 
and  a  city  school  superintendent,  and  appropriated 
$35,000  for  the  support  of  schools.  During  the  forma- 
tive period  of  1851-53,  among  the  small  group  of  school 
principals,  James  Denman  was  a  graduate  of  the  Albany 
{  N.  Y. )  State  normal  school ;  Ellis  H.  Holmes  and  Ahira 
Holmes  were  from  the  Bridgewater  (  Mass.)  State  normal 
school ;  and  William  Russell's  Merrimack  (  N.  H.  )  private 
normal  school  was  represented  by  the  writer  of  this 
history. 

The  first  schools  were  held  in  rented  buildings,  small, 
rude,  and  cheap,  and  roughly   fitted  up   for   temporary 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVH   WAR      105 

school  purposes.  For  instance,  the  Happy  Valley  School 
(  now  the  Denman  School)  occupied  for  a  time  a  livery 
stable,  sub-divided  by  thin  board  partitions.  The  Rincon 
School  was  held  in  a  shanty  half-buried  in  a  sand  bank. 
But  these  rooms  were  crowded  with  pupils.  In  1851 
there  was  an  enrollment  of  400  pupils;  in  1852,  of  600 ; 
in  1853,  of  1500;  and  in  1856,  of  nearly  8,000,  including 
1,421  in  the  ward  or  parochial  schools.  The  school 
appropriations,  at  first,  were  niggardly.  The  common- 
school  spirit  had  not  yet  been  developed.  The  new  city 
was  full  of  parochial  and  other  denominational  schools, 
and  of  small  private  schools.  It  required  heroic  efforts  to 
organize  and  maintain  common  schools  in  the  midst  of  a 
cosmopolitan  population  drawn  from  the  four  quarters  of 
the  globe.  The  political  elements  were  unstable,  and  the 
tenure  of  teachers  was  uncertain.  The  Vigilance  Com- 
mittee, in  1856,  purified  the  city,  and  for  a  decade  the 
school  administration  was  good,  and  prospects  began  to 
brighten. 

The  parochial  schools  of  the  Catholic  Church  were 
strong,  and  were  attended  by  more  than  a  thousand  chil- 
dren. For  several  years  these  schools,  known  as  ward- 
schools,  received  their  pro  rata  of  public-school  moneys. 
This  question  became  a  vexed  one  in  state  legislation. 

The  first  high  school  in  San  Francisco  (1856)  was 
started  under  the  name  of  "  The  Union  Grammar  School," 
because  some  of  the  city  officials  held  that  a  high  school 
was  not  legally  a  common  school.  At  the  end  of  a  year, 
however,  the  school  was  allowed  to  assume  its  proper 
name,  "  The  English  High  School." 

State  Legislation  Again.  —At  the  fifth  session  of  the 
legislature  (1853-54),  Hon.  D.  R.  Ashley  "submitted  a 
carefully-prepared  school  bill,  biit  as  it  contained  a  section 


Io6       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  RUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

that  prohibited  sectarian  schools  from  receiving  a  pro  rata 
of  public  school  moneys,  it  was  buried  in  the  rubbish  of 
unfinished  business.  During  the  next  session  (1854-55), 
Mr.  Ashley  introduced,  in  substance,  his  rejected  school 
bill  of  the  preceding  year,  which  became  a  law  May  3, 
1855.  This  enactment  provided  among  other  things  that 
no  school  should  be  entitled  to  any  share  of  the  public 
fund  that  had  not  been  taught  by  teachers  duly  examined 
and  approved  by  legal  authority,  and  that  no  sectarian 
doctrines  should  be  taught  in  any  public  school  under 
penalty  of  forfeiting  public  funds. 

In  1857,  Andrew  J.  Moulder,  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  was  elected  to  the  office  of  state  sup- 
erintendent, which  he  held  until  1 863.  From  his  varied  ex- 
perience as  a  teacher  in  a  Virginia  academy,  and  as  a 
journalist  in  California,  he  brought  to  the  office  good 
qualifications  for  his  work.  He  secured  numerous  amend- 
ments to  the  state  school  law,  and  his  six  annual  reports 
afford  a  good  record  of  the  advancement  in  common 
schools.  _. 

In  1 861,  John  Conness,  afterwards  U.  S.  senator  from  ' 
California,  introduced  a  bill  in  the  assembly,  which  be- 
came a  law,  providing  for  the  sale  of  the  i6th  and  36th 
sections  of  school  lands,  and  also  that  the  proceeds  should 
be  paid  into  the  state  school  fund.  Thus,  after  many 
years  of  impracticable  legislation  in  tinkering  on  town- 
ship land  bills,  a  practicable  law  was  enacted  by  which  in 
less  than  one  year  200,000  acres  were  sold,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds applied  to  the  state  school  fund. 

Another  attempt  was  made  to  secure  a  pro  rata  of 
school  money  for  parochial  schools  ;  but  it  was  defeated 
by  the  determined  stand  taken  against  it  by  Hon.  John 
Conness. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL   WAR 


07 


Important  school  legislation  was  secured  in  1865-66  by 
the  enactment  of  the  *'  Revised  School  Law  " — a  law 
drafted  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  and 
passed  almost  without  amendment.  This  law  contained 
liberal  provisions  for  state,  county,  and  district  taxation ; 
and  marked  the  beginning  of  free  common  schools  in 
every  rural  district  in  the  state.  It  fixed  the  rate  of  state 
school  tax  at  eight  cents  on  each  hundred  dollars  of  tax- 
able property ;  the'  county  school  tax  at  a  minimum  of 
$3.00  for  each  school  census  child,  and  the  maximum  at 
thirty-five  cents  on  each  $100;  authorized  and  required 
schooL  trustees  to  levy  a  school  tax  sufficient  to  keep  a 
free  school  five  months  in  each  year.  It  provided  for  a 
state  board  of  education  ;  for  life  diplomas  for  teachers  ; 
for  district  school  libraries  ;  for  county  institutes  ;  for  the 
election  of  district  school  trustees  for  a  term  of  three 
years,  one  to  be  elected  each  year  ;  and  for  many  other 
details  of  a  modern  public  school  system. 

State  Taxation.  —  In  i874_thestate  school  tax  was  in- 
creased  to  an  annual  levy  of  $7.00  for  each  school  census 
child,  which  yielded  an  annual  school  revenue  of  over  a 
million  of  dollars.  Another  provision  secured  for  each 
school  district,  even  the  smallest,  a  minimum  annual  ap- 
portionment of  $500,  thus  securing  at  least  an  eight  months 
school  in  all  rural  district  schools. 

The  original  state  tax  of  half  a  mill  on  the  dollar  was 
secured  in  1864  by  a  petition  to  the  state  legislature  from 
each  school  district  in  the  state.  There  were  nearly  a 
thousand  of  these  petitions,  and  the  legislators  were 
forced  into  an  immediate  compliance  with  the  demands 
of  their  constituents.  This  petition,  drafted  by  the  state 
superintendent,  and  sent  out  for  circulation  in  every  school 
district,  read  as  follows  : 


I08       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

"Whereas,  We  believe  that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  representative 
government  to  maintain  pubhc  schools  as  an  act  of  self-preservation, 
and  that  the  property  of  the  state  should  be  taxed  to  educate  the 
children  of  the  state ;  and  whereas,  the  present  school  fund  is  wholly 
inadequate  to  sustain  a  system  of  free  schools ;  we,  the  undersigned, 
qualified  electors  of  the  state  of  California,  respectfully  ask  your 
honorable  body  to  levy  a  special  state  tax  of  half  a  mill  on  the  dollar, 
during  the  fiscal  years  1864  and  1865,  the  proceeds  of  the  same  to  be 
disbursed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  present  state  school  fund." 

In  1866,  the  rate  of  state  school  tax  was  raised  to  eight 
cents  on  each  $icx),  and  at  a  later  period  was  more  than 
doubled. 

State  Normal  Schools.  —  The  first  state  normal  school 
was  opened  in  San  Francisco,  July,  1862,  with  Ahira 
Holmes,  of  the  Bridgewater  Normal  School,  as  principal. 
Henry  P.  Carlton  was  soon  after  appointed  vice  principal. 
In  1873  the  school  was  removed  to  San  Jose.  Since  that 
time  additional  state  normal  schools  have  been  established 
at  Los  Angeles,  Chico,  San  Diego,  and  San  Francisco. 

The  State  University.  —  In  1868,  John  W.  Dwindle 
drafted  a  bill  and  secured  its  passage  in  the  legislature  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  providing  for  a  state  university 
with  an  agricultural  college.  The  College  of  California, 
a  liberal  denominational  college,  founded  in  1855,  dis- 
incorporated and  conveyed  its  grounds  at  Berkeley  to 
the  State  University,  which  assumed  the  debts  of  the 
college.  The  State  University  opened  its  doors  in  Oak^ 
land,  September  23,  1869,  with  Professor  John  Le  Conte,  of 
South  Carolina,  as  acting  president.  In  1870,  Henry 
Durant,  of  Yale,  who  had  been  president  of  the  College 
of  California,  was  elected  president  of  the  State  Uni- 
versity. The  endowment  fund  of  the  State  University, 
derived  from  Federal  and  state  land  grants,  may  be  roughly 
estimated  at  two  millions  of  dollars.     A  state  tax  of  ^eT" 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL  WAR 


109 


cents  on  $100  is  annually  levied  for  the  support  of  the 
university,  and  liberal  appropriations  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  for  the  erection  of  buildings.  Several 
large  individual  bequests  have  been  made  to  the  uni- 
versity by  educational  philanthropists. 

State  Publication  of  Text-Books.  —  The  special  student 
will  discover  that  most  of  the  states  made,  at  one  time  or 
another  in  their  history,  some  blunder  or  some  unfor- 
tunate experiment  in  school  legislation.  California  made 
an  ill-advised  experiment  by  a  law  providing  for  the  state 
publication  of  common-school  text-books.  This  law  was 
enacted  during  a  period  of  great  social  agitation  and  in- 
dustrial discontent.  Various  causes  led  up  to  this  result. 
Under  a  law  enacted  in  1863-64,  the  State  Board  of 
Education  was  authorized  to  adopt  a  uniform  series  of 
school-books  for  rural  school  districts,  which  at  that  time 
included  only  about  one  third  of  the  school  children  in 
the  state.  Incorporated  cities  and  towns  having  special 
boards  of  education  were  left  free  to  adopt  their  own 
text-books.  This  law  was  enacted  on  the  repeated  de- 
mand of  the  teachers  assembled  in  state  institutes.  It 
had  been  found  that  district  school  trustees  made  ill- 
advised  selections,  or  else  made  no  adoptions  whatever, 
leaving  pupils  to  use  whatever  miscellaneous  books  they 
brought  to  school.  This  law  worked  well  enough  before 
the  days  of  county  boards  of  education  ;  but  by  influences 
other  than  good  public  policy,  San  Francisco  and  all  other 
incorporated  cities  were  soon  included  in  the  state  uni- 
formity law.  The  question  still  remained  a  vexed  sub- 
ject of  legislation.  Finally,  in  1885,  a  law  was  enacted 
which  provided  that  the  State  Board  of  Education  should 
edit  or  prepare  a  series  of  text-books,  to  be  printed  by  the 
state  printer,  published  by  the  state,  and    furnished  to 


1 10       HISrOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

pupils  at  the  cost  price  of  publication.  At  the  outset,  the 
majority  of  public-school  teachers  were  opposed  to  this 
plan  ;  after  an  experience  of  fifteen  years,  the  teachers  are 
almost  unanimous  in  condemnation  of  it. 

Educational  Evolution.  — Jn  a  quarter  of  a  century,  "^ 
California  rapidlypassed  through  all  the  successive  stages 
of  educational  development,  —  first,  private  and  denomina- 
tionaTschools;  next,  city  schools^;  then,  ungraded  district 
schools,  partly  supported  by  rate  bills ;  thetTTree  public 
prirnarv^_and  grammat^^schools  ;  and,  in  due  time,  high 
schools,  normal  schools,  and  a  free  state  university^ 
Incidental  to  this  system,  there  were  provided,  as  in  other 
states,  reform  schools,  institutions  for  the  deaf  and  dumb 
and  blind,  and  for  feeble-minded  children.  In  185 1,  the 
public-school  enrollment  was  less  than  2000;  ten  years 
later  it  had  increased  to  18,000;  in  1 871,  it  was  64,000, 
and  in  1875,  to  130,000.  The  public  school  expenditures 
amounted  in  1851  to  $33,000;  in  1861,  to  half  a  million, 
and  in  1875,  to  $2,500,000.  From  1850  to  1875,  the 
total  expenditure  for  school  purposes,  including  state 
normal  schools  and  state  university,  amounted  to  nearly 
$25,000,000.  The  expenditure  for  public-school  purposes  s 
in  1897  was  $5,748,000. 

Other  Western  Mountain  States.  —  The  history  of  the 
school  system  of  the  other  Pacific  and  Rocky  Mountain 
states,  — now  classed  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  as  the 
"  Western  Division,"  —  resembles,  in  general  outlines,  that 
of  California.  Oregon  had  a  slower  development ;  Wash- 
ington and  Colorado  a  quicker  growth.  The  state  uni- 
versities of  Washington,  Oregon,  and  Colorado  are  excep- 
tionally promising,  and  are  based  on  well-organized  sys- 
tems of  public  schools.  Idaho,  Montana,  Wyoming, 
Utah,   Arizona,   and    New    Mexico,  are  marching  along 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  CIVIL   WAR      m 

their  mountain  highways  in  the  public-school  procession. 
Alaska  has  its  system  of  schools  for  Indians,  in  charge  of 
the  National  Bureau  of  Education,  and  will  soon  have  its 
common  schools  for  white  children,  and  in  due  time  its 
state  university  and  experiment  stations. 

In  all  this  western  mountain  group  of  states  the  total 
public-school  enrollment  is  700,000,  or  200,000  less  than 
that  of  the  New  England  states.  Out  of  the  total  public 
and  private  school  enrollment,  only  about  six  per  cent  are 
found  in  private  schools.  In  the  universities,  colleges,  and 
schools  of  technology,  there  are  5,300  students,  60  per 
cent  of  whom  are  in  public  institutions.  In  San  Fran- 
cisco, the  largest  city  of  this  group  of  states,  there  were 
enrolled  (1896-97)  39,000  pupils  in  public  schools,  and 
8,000  in  parochial  and  private  schools. 

THE  NORTH  ATLANTIC   STATES. 

New  England.  —  In  New  England  modernadvancement 
hasjconsisted  chiefly  m  perfecting  the  schools_alj^alo^ng 
the  lines  of  original  development.  The  district  schools 
have  given  place  to  town  schools  placed  u^nder  the  super- 
YJsion  ofedn  rational  evperts  ;  wise  compulsory  educational 


laws  strictly  enforced  in  all  rnanufacturing  cities,  secure" 
the  rights  of  children  to  attend  school  at  least  a  part  of 
each  year.  Notwithstanding  the  influx  of  foreign  opera- 
tives into  cities,  ample  provision  has  been  made  for  taking 
the  children  into  well-planned  and  well-ventilated  school 
buildings,  where  they  are  assimilated  into  American  cit- 
izens. School  attendance  has  been  everywhere  increased 
by  furnishing  text-books  at  public  expense  ;  and  in  rural 
districts  by  ^frg^_£ublicjtraiisportation  tO— the  central 
schools.     In    the  city   of  Boston   (1896-97),  there   were 


1 12      HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

82,000  children  enrolled  in  the  public  schools,  and   12,000 
attending  parochial  and  private  schools. 

In  Massachusetts  the  doors  of  the  high  schools  are  open 
to  all  girls  and  boys  who  are  fitted  to  enter  them  and  de- 
sire to  do  so,  transportation  of  pupils  remote  from  school 
being  paid  for  at  public  expense.  Here  is  what  William 
T.  Harris  said  in  1894  :^ 

"  I  find,  by  the  returns  made  to  the  National  Bureau  of  Education 
that  the  total  amount  of  school  education  that  each  inhabitant  of 
Massachusetts  is  receiving  on  an  average — basing  the  calculation  on 
the  attendance  in  public  and  private  schools  and  the  length  of  the 
annual  school  term — is  nearly  seven  years  of  two  hundred  days 
each,  while  the  average  schooling  given  each  citizen  in  the  whole 
nation  is  only  four  and  three-tenths  of  such  years.  No  other  state  is 
giving  so  much  education  to  its  people  as  Massachusetts,  and  yet  all 
the  education  given  in  all  its  institutions  does  not  amount  on  an 
average  to  so  much  as  seven  eighths  of  an  elementary  education  of 
eight  years.  Even  Massachusetts  is  not  over-educating  the  people. 
But  there  would  seem  to  be  some  connection  between  the  fact  that, 
while  her  citizens  get  nearly  twdce  the  national  average  amount  of 
education,  her  wealth-producing  power  as  compared  with  other  states 
stands  almost  in  the  same  ratio — namely  (in  1885),  at  seventy-three 
cents  per  day  fot  each  man,  woman,  and  child,  while  the  average  for 
the  whole  nation  was  only  forty  cents." 

New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  —  Of  all  the  states.  New 
York  ranks  highest  in  the  number  of  pupils  enrolled  on 
public-school  registers,  having  a  total  enrollment  of  1,200,- 
000,  and  Pennsylvania  is  a  close  second  with  1,140,000. 
Each  state  has  fourteen  large  and  well-equipped  public 
normal  schools.  Each  state  has  a  strong  system  of  high 
schools.  Each  state  has  an  effective  system  of  common 
schools,  differing  in  details,  but  each  accomplishing  the 

^  Editor's  Preface  to  "  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Public  School 
System,"  by  George  H.  Martin. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER   THE  CIVIL    WAR 


113 


main  purpose  of  educating  the  people.  Both  states  have 
their  public  and  non-public  colleges  and  universities,  of 
which  they  are  justly  proud.  Including  the  school  en- 
rollment in  New  Jersey  (295,000),  and  the  New  England 
states  (907,000),  the  total  public  school  enrollment  of  the 
Northern  Atlantic  Division  is  3,545,000.  According  to 
the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1896-97,  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  there  were  168,000  pupils  en- 
rolled in  public  schools,  and  42,000  in  parochial  and  private 
schools. 

The  school_systPm  of  New  York  city  has  recently  been 
reorganized  and  the  executive  power  has  been  central- 
ized. In  1896,  an  act"oT~the  stateTegTstatnre^-provided 
for  a  city  board  of  education  for  New  York_city,  consist- 
ing of  2i_commissiQa£j:s  of  common  schools,  appointed  by 
the  mayor,  for  a  term  of  three  years,  one  third  to  be  ap- 
pointed annually.  The  board  have  full  control  of  public 
schools  and  of  the  public-school  system  of  the  city,  sub- 
ject only  to  the  statutes  of  the  state.  Teachers  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  board  on  the  written  nomination  of  a  major- 
ity of  the  board  of  school  superintendents.  The  city 
must  be  divided  into  fifteen  inspection  districts,  for  each  of 
which  there  is  a  board  of  school  inspectors  of  five  mem- 
bers, appointed  by  the  mayor  for  a  term  of  five  years,  one 
inspector  being  appointed  each  year.  The  local  or  ward 
boards  elected  by  popular  vote  are  abolished.  Under  this 
law  high  schools  have  been  established,  and  kindergarten 
schools  opened.  This  law  is  typical  of  the  present  ten- 
(ien£y_ilL_all_great  cities  to  a  centralized  management  of 
schools,  under  the  inspectlon^f  educationaTexperts.  The 
new  charter  of  San  Francisco,  adopted  in  1899,  provides 
for  a  board  of  education  of  four  members,  appointed  by 
the  mayor,  and  each  paid  a  salary  of  $3,000  a  year. 

AM.    PUB.   SCH. — 8 


114 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


The  g£o^^  of  New  York  city  in  recent  years  has  been 
so  rapid  that  it  has  been  difficult  for  the  schools  to  keep 
pace  with  the  population.  At  the  opening  of  the  schools 
in  September,  1898,  there  were  15,000  children  clamoring 
in  vain  for  admission  into  the  over-crowded  public  schools. 
Under  the  imperative  demands  of  the  public  press,  tem- 
porary rooms  were  rented  for  most  of  these  children,  and 
measures  proposed  for  issuing  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$9,000,000  for  the  erection  of  suitable  modern  school- 
houses.  In  1897  there  were  estimated  to  be  40,000  chil- 
dren in  this  city  attending  parochial  and  private  schools, 
and  226,000  enrolled  in  the  public  schools.  Yet  there 
is  not  room  enough  to  accommodate  the  children  clam- 
oring for  admission  into  the  public  schools.  One  great 
drawback  on  the  public  schools  of  New  York  city,  for  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century  has  been  the  over-crowded  school- 
rooms and  the  great  number  of  pupils  to  each  teacher. 
This  condition  of  things  exists  in  Chicago  and  most  of 
the  other  great  cities. 

THE  NORTH  CENTRAL  STATES. 

The  Northwest  Territory.  —  In  this  central  seat  of  popu- 
lation, made  secure  to  public  schools  and  free  labor  by 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  the  American  public-school  system 
has  full  and  free  development.  HereTTn  tKe"Tive~staYes 
formed  ouf  of'The  ofiginall^orthwest  Territory  —  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  —  there  are  now 
enrolled  in  the  public  schools  3,2 15,000  pupils,  —  an  enroll- 
ment lacking  only  30,000  of  being  equal  to  the  combined 
enrollment  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  the  New 
England  States  taken  together.  Here,  also,  are  enrolled 
in  all  institutions,  public  and  private,  for  the  higher  edu- 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER   THE  CIVH   WAR      115 

cation,  17,000  students,  of  whom  one  half  are  in  pubUc 
colleges  and  universities.  Here  are  growing  up  great 
state  universities  like  those  of  Michigan  and  Illinois. 
Here  is  the  University  of  Chicago,  which  resembles  the 
modern  state  university  in  most  respects  except  in  name. 
Here,  too,  are  congregated  the  notable  leaders  of  the 
American-Herbartian  methods  of  instruction,  who  are 
bringing  common-school  methods  of  instruction  into  ac- 
cord with  psychological  principles  and  the  needs  of  mod- 
ern social  conditions. 

Other  States.  —  If  we  add  to  these  five  states  the  other 
states  included  in  the  North  Central  Division  —  Minnesota, 
Iowa,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  the  Dakotas,  and  Kansas,  —  we 
find  a  public  school  enrollment  of  5,587,000  pupils,  or  more 
than  one-third  of  the  entire  enrollment  of  the  republic. 
These  states,  with  one  exception,  came  into  the  Union  under 
conditions  similar  to  those  of  the  Northwest-Territory 
states.  Missouri,  which  remained  so  long  on  the  border 
line  of  North  and  South,  East  and  West,  is  distinguished, 
educationally,  by  the  public-school  systems  of  St.  Louis 
and  Kansas  city,  and  the  work  of  William  T.  Harris  and 
James  M.  Greenwood. 

Turning  to  the  great  cities  of  this  division  we  find  a 
large  school  attendance  in  parochial  and  private  schools, 
but  in  these  states,  as  a  whole,  such  attendance  is  compara- 
tively small.  The  public  schools  of  Chicago,  like  those  of 
New  York,  are  overcrowded  with  children,  having  an  en- 
rollment of  225,000  pupils;  yet  there  are  estimated  to  be 
91,000  children  attending  parochial  and  private  schools. 
The  city  of  St.  Louis  has  a  public  school  enrollment  of 
75,000  and  a  parochial,  and  private  school  attendance  esti- 
mated at  25,000. 


1 1 6     HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 
SOUTH  ATLANTIC   STATES. 

In  this  division  are  included  the  states  of  Virginia,  West 
Virginia,  Delaware,  Maryland,  District  of  Columbia,  North 
and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Florida.  The  total 
common-school  enrollment  in  these  states  in  1 896-97,  was 
2,070,000,  Georgia  ranking  highest  in  number  (446,000), 
Virginia  second  (368,000),  and  North  Carolina  third 
(258,000).  The  city  of  Washington  (D.  C),  had  a  pubhc- 
school  enrollment  of  42,000,  and  a  parochial  and  private 
school  attendance  estimated  at  5,000  pupils.  In  Baltimore 
the  public-school  enrollment  was  76,000 ;  the  parochial 
and  private  school  attendance  was  estimated  at  16,000. 

SOUTH  CENTRAL  STATES. 

This  division  includes  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Oklahoma. 
The  total  common  school  enrollment  is  2,725,000,  Texas 
ranking  highest  (616,000),  Tennessee  second  (482,000), 
Kentucky  third  (400,000).  The  city  of  Louisville  has  a 
public-school  enrollment  of  26,000,  and  a  parochial  and 
private  school  attendance  estimated  at  8,000.  New 
Orleans  has  a  public-school  attendance  of  29,000,  and  no 
report  on  parochial  or  private  school  attendance.  Nash- 
ville has  in  public  schools  an  enrollment  of  10,000;  in 
parochial  and  private  schools,  1,700. 

CONCLUSION. 

This  chapter  may  be  fitly  closed  by  a  quotation  from 
the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1896-97  : 
"  If  the  conditions  existing  in  the  year  1896-97  were  con- 
tinued indefinitely,  what  would  be  the  average  amount  of 


PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  AFTER   THE  CIVH    WAR       u; 

schooling  per  individual,  counting  it  in  school  years  of  two 
hundred  days  each  ?  I  find  that  if  we  include  public  and 
private  schools  and  higher  education  as  well  as  elementary 
and  secondary,  the  amount  that  each  inhabitant  would 
receive  is  4.94  years." 

The  table  which  the  commissioner  submits  shows  the 
comparative  rank  by  "  divisions "  as  follows :  North 
Atlantic,  6.50  years;  North  Central,  5.90  years;  Western, 
5.54  years ;  South  Atlantic,  3.08  years  ;  South  Central,  2.83 
years.  Another  table  shows  the  total  amount  of  school- 
ing per  inhabitant,  considering  only  public  elementary  and 
secondary  schools,  to  be  4.37  years.  The  "  divisions  " 
rank  as  follows:  North  Atlantic  5.61  years;  North  Central 
5.29  years;  Western  5.02  years;  South  Atlantic  2.78 
years ;  South  Central  2.49  years.  This  official  exhibit 
doesjiot^eryt  to  indicate  that  the  republic,  as  a  whole, 

^^V^m'Tig  frr>m    f^^rf-r-  e-<\y^^:x\^\c^X\    (^\  thc  pCOplc.  '  ^ 

The  report  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  further  shows 
that  there  were  enrolled  in  the  schools  and  colleges,  both 
public  and  private,  during  the  school  year  1896-97, 
16,255,093  pupils,  being  an  increase  of  257,896  over  the 
preceding  year.  There  were  also  enrolled  393,194  pupils 
in  city  evening  schools,  business  schools,  Indian  schools, 
schools  for  defective  classes,  reform  schools,  orphan  asy- 
lums, and  miscellaneous  schools.  This  makes  the  grand 
total  of  pupils  and  students  in  the  whole  nation  16,648,287. 


CHAPTER  V 
COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY. 

BRANCHES  OF  INSTRUCTION 

In  Colonial  Schools.  —  The  curriculum  of  the  primitive 
colonial  common  school  included  only  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic.  For  half  a  century  the  course  in  reading 
consisted  of  the  hornbook,  some  church  primer  or  cate- 
chism, the  Psalter,  and  the  Bible.  In  arithmetic  the 
teachers  used  some  English  text-book,  such  as  Cocker's 
or  Hodder's,  and  dictated  lessons  to  pupils,  who  carefully 
copied  their  work  into  blank-books.  When  the  catechism 
and  the  Psalter  began  to  go  out  of  use,  various  kinds  of 
readers  and  spelling-books  were  brought  over  from  Eng- 
land. Still  later,  text-books  on  grammar,  geography,  and 
history  were  dimly  foreshadowed  by  fragments  of  each, 
roughly  "  correlated  "  in  various  reading  books. 

In  Early  American  Schools.  —  During  the  first  half  cen- 
tury after  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  colonial  course 
^'study  was  enriched  by  the  addition  of  grammar,  geo- 
graphy,  and,  occasionally,  history  of  the  United  States. 
Studies  other  than  these  were  exceptional,  save  in  a  few 
cities  and  large  towns,  in  which  the  original  Latin  gram- 
mar schools  were  becoming  slowly  transformed  into 
American  public  schools  which  supplied  an  education  in 
English  along  with  instruction  in  Latin.  The  text-books 
were  few  in  number  and  poor  in  quality.  Noah  Web- 
ster's ''American  Spelling  Book"  was  used  as  a  correlated 

ii8 


COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY         119 

text-book  for  beginners  in  reading  and  spelling,  though 
some  schools  retained  Perry's  or  Dilworth's,  both  of  Eng- 
lish origin.  The  spelling  book  was  followed  by  a  single 
ungraded  reading  book,  usually  Murray's  **  English 
Reader,"  or  the  "  American  Preceptor,"  or  Scott's  "  Elo- 
cution," or  the  "Columbian  Orator,"  or  Webster's  "  Ameri- 
can Selection,"  or  Porter's  ""  Rhetorical  Reader,"  or  the 
"  Ameycan  First  Class  Book,"  with  the  Bible  for  sup- 
plementary reading.  There  was,  in  general,  one  un- 
graded text-book  for  each  of  the  other  studies ;  such 
as  Pike's,  or  Daboll's,  or  Hodder's,  or  Welch's,  or 
Adams's  Arithmetic ;  Lindley  Murray's  or  Noah  Web- 
ster's English  Grammar;  and  Dwight's,  or  Morse's, 
or  Olney's,  or  Woodbridge's  Geography.  Engraved 
copy-books  were  unknown.  .  The  teacher  wrote  the 
copies  at  the  head  of  each  page  in  each  pupil's  blank- 
book,  and  made  and  mended  the  quill  pens.  Drawing 
was  an  unknown  art,  and  little  or  no  time  was  wasted  in 
school  singing.  Printed  courses  of  study  had  no  exis- 
tence. School  desks  and  seats  were  rude  and  uncomfort- 
able. Behind  the  teacher's  platform  there  was  usually 
found  a  small  blackboard,  but  it  was  never  used  by  pupils. 
Charts,  maps,  and  globes  had  not  yet  come  into  general 
use.  The  hours  of  school  were  from  9  A.  M.  to  4  P.  M., 
with  an  intermission  of  one  hour  at  noon.  Schools  were^ 
in  session  six  days  in  the  week,  though  on  Saturdays  they 
closed  at  noon  in  order  to  give  pupils  time  to  prepare  for 
Sunday.  In  summer  time,  when  the  big  boys  were  at 
work  on  the  farm,  the  school  was  taught  by  some  young 
schoolmistress  that  had  attended  the  academy  a  few 
terms.  During  the  winter  term  of  three  months  a  school- 
master was  employed,  because  some  of  the  boys  required 
9,  strong  hand  in  discipline,  and  the  older  boys  from  fifteen     / 


^ 


1 20     HIS  TOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

to  twenty-one  years  of  age  took  up  book-keeping  or  pursued 
the  advanced  course  in  algebra  and  geometry  found  in 
Pike's  arithmetic.  The  schoolmaster  was  paid  from  ten  to 
fifteen  dollars  a  month,  exclusive  of  board  ;  and  the  school- 
mistress from  three  to  eight  dollars  a  month.  As  late  as 
1 8 14,  Mary  Lyon,  the  founder  of  Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary 
and  College  taught  her  first  district  school  in  Western 
Massachusetts  for  $3  a  month,  and  "  boarded  round.** 

DISCIPLINE. 

School  discipline  was  rigid  and  sometimes  severe,  like 
that  in  the  schools  of  England  and  Scotland.  It  was 
pithily  summed  up  and  kept  alive  by  a  well-known  couplet 
in  the  "  New  England  Primer:  " 

"  The  idle  fool 

Is  whipped  at  school." 

The  schoolmasters  who  came  over  from  England  dur- 
ing the  first  century  of  colonial  life  were  firm  believers  in 
corporal  punishment  as  a  stimulus  to  mental  activity  in 

memorizing  hard  lessons.     But  the  severity   of  English 

discipline  slowly  disappeared.  The  ordinary  school  dis- 
cipImeT  except  m  some  of  the  British  types  of  Latin 
grammar  schools  was  reasonably  well  adapted  to  the  ex- 
isting home  government  and  the  condition  of  society.  In 
the  schools  of  which  I  gained  a  personal  knowledge,  either 
as  a  pupil  (1835-44),  or  as  a  teacher  (1848-52),  corporal 
punishment  was  of  rare  occurrence,  and  then  only  in 
cases  of  open  insubordination.  Whipping  a  boy  for  not 
learning  his  lessons  was  unknown.  The  usual  manner  of 
punishment  was  by  a  few  strokes  on  the  palm  of  the  hand 
with  a  light  wood  ferule.     I  call  to  mind  only  one  instance 


COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY         121 

of  punishment  on  an  extensive  scale.  This  was  when  ten 
big  boys  became  so  interested  in  skating  on  a  neighbor- 
ing mill-pond  that  they  came  into  school  late  after  the 
noon  intermission.  They  stood  up  in  line  manfully  and 
took  their  feruling  without  a  whimper.  But  the  next  day 
they  were  in  their  seats  promptly  after  the  ringing  of  the 
bell.  As  for  myself,  I  was  never  whipped  either  at  school 
or  at  home.  During  a  teaching  experience  of  two  winters 
in  New  Hampshire  and  two  winters  in  a  district  school  in 
Massachusetts,  the  list  of  corporal  punishments  began 
and  ended  with  one  obstreperous  boy. 

My  friend,  John  Muir,  the  distinguished  writer  and  sci- 
entific explorer,  who  began  his  education  by  six  years  of 
study  in  a  "  grammar  school  "  in  Scotland,  gives  me  an 
account  of  the  severe  discipline  in  the  Scotch  schools  of 
that  period.  "  Any  failure  in  Latin,  or  French,  or  gram- 
mar, or  spelling,  or  arithmetic,  was  followed  by  a  warm 
thrashing,  which  the  boys  took  as  a  matter  of  course  and 
seemed  to  be  greatly  benefited  by  it.  No  disgrace  at  that 
time  was  attached  to  corporal  punishment ;  it  was  as 
hearty  and  natural  as  the  weather  ;  kept  the  scholars  wide 
awake  and  mindful ;  exerted  a  marvelous  influence  on 
memory  ;  and  developed  manly  Spartan  fortitude."  Earl 
Barnes,  also,  takes  a  very  charitable  view  of  the  results  of 
corporal  punishment  in  the  English  schools  of  to-day. 

METHODS  OF  TEACHING. 

Recitations.  —  In  general  there  was  very  little  direct 

oraHnstruction.     It  was  the  office  of  thejteacher  to  keeg 

order  and  hear  recitations.     It  was  the  duty  of  pupils  to 
niemorize  text::book  lessons  and  recite  them  without  note,^ 
comrnent,  or  question.     The  end  aimed  at  was  the  mem- 


122      HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

orizing  of  text-book  lessons.  In  arithmetic  '^sums '' 
were  worked  out  by  rule,  and  this  work  was  believed 
to  be  the  highest  kind  of  mental  discipline.  In  the  un- 
graded schools  of  that  time,  indeed,  it  was  not  possible 
for  teachers  to  do  much  more  than  to  hear  recitations. 
Thus  the  text-book  became  all  important,  and  almost 
entirely  determined  the  mental  training  of  pupils.  The 
dominating  influence  of  this  method  is  strong  in  American 
schools  even  at  the  present  time.  The  sharp  criticisms  of 
German  educators  on  our  undue  reliance  on  text-book 
work  is  not  undeserved. 

In  the  district  school  that  I  attended  (1835-44),  as  in 
most  of  the  schools  of  that  period,  written  arithmetic  was 
pursued  on  the  *'  individual  system,"  each  pupil  attacking 
the  subject  in  his  own  way  and  working  as  fast  as  he 
could.  We  worked  by  the  rules  in  the  book,  and  when 
we  "  got  stuck  "  by  some  puzzling  problem,  went  to  the 
master  or  to  some  older  boy,  who  showed  us  how  to  do 
it.  More  than  half  our  entire  school  time  was  devoted  to 
working  out  sums  in  the  book.  When  Colburn's  In- 
tellectual Arithmetic  appeared,  we  were  put  on  regular 
drill  work  in  class,  much  to  our  delight.  Great  stress  was 
placed  on  oral  spelling  and  oral  reading,  in  class.  We 
had  innumerable  spelling  matches,  and  frequent  evening 
spelling  schools.  Composition-writing  was  unknown  to 
_us.  We  were  supposed  to  acquire  the  "  art  of  writing 
the  English  language  with  propriety "  by  a  text-book 
study  of  Orthography,  Etymology,  Syntax,  and  Prosody, 
without  writing  even  a  sentence. 

District  Schools.  —  These  district  schools,  however,  were 
often  far  better  than  their  limited  curriculum  would  seem 
to  inciicate.  For  a  long  period,  the  winter  schools  were 
taughtJby_youn^  college  graduates  who  were  enabled  by 


COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY 

teaching  to  "  pay  their  way  "  while  studying  law,  medicine, 
or  theology.  These  cultured  young  men  were  ready  to 
aid  ambitious  and  promising  pupils  in  beginning  algebra, 
Latin,  or  other  advanced  studies.  They  encouraged  fore- 
handed farmers  to  send  their  smartest  boys  through 
the  academy  and  to  college.  The  village  district  school 
that  I  attended  was  taught  for  three  successive  winters  by 
young  law  students,  graduates  of  Dartmouth.  It  was  one 
of  these  young  liberals  that  started  a  class  of  big  boys  in 
United  States  history,  natural  philosophy,  and  the  civil 
government  of  New  Hampshire,  and  graciously  allowed 
me  to  enter  it  when  only  ten  years  of  age. 

A   PSYCHOLOGICAL  VIEW. 

Attempted  Improvements.  —  There  is  a  recent  article 
on  *'  attempted  improvements  in  the  course  of  study," 
from  which,  by  the  kindness  of  the  writer,  I  am  permitted 
to  make  a  liberal  quotation.  The  theory,  practice,  and 
results  of  the  old  school  curriculum  and  its  accompanying 
method  are  graphically  summed  up  and  set  forth  by  Pro- 
fessor Paul  H.  Hanus,  of  the  pedagogical  department  of 
Harvard  University,  as  follows  :^ 

"  Once  it  was  assumed  that  all  knowledge  was  locked  up  in  books  ; 
at  the  same  time  it  was  assumed  that  all  knowledge  (book-knowledge) 
was  power.  Hence  all  intellectual  development  meant  the  mastery 
of  books.  '  To  put  a  child  to  his  book  '  was  accordingly  the  phrase 
which  described  the  aim  and  processes  of  elementary  education.  Or, 
in  other  words,  the  aim  was  to  enable  the  child  to  read,  write,  and 
cipher  in  order  that  he  might  possess  himself  of  the  contents  of  books. 
Until  a  command  of  written  and  printed  speech  and  facility  in  numer- 
ical operations  were  secured,  it  was  assumed  that  nothing  else  could 
be  learned. 

"  Not  many  years  ago,  it  was  still  quite  generally  true  that  the  ele- 

1  The  Educational  Review,  December,  1 896. 


124     HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

mentary  school  course  of  study — the  pre-high  school  course — could  be 
described  as  chiefly  a  course  of  study  in  the  school  arts,  reading,  writ- 
ing, arithmetic,  and  English  grammar,  together  with  book-geography 
and  a  little  United  States  history.  It  was  still  quite  generally  true  that 
the  school  seemed  to  be  divorced  from  life.  .  .  . 

"  It  was,  therefore,  quite  generally  true  that  the  total  permanent  re- 
sult of  the  first  eight  or  nine  years  of  the  pupil's  school  life  was  the 
ability  to  read,  but  not  the  reading  habit ;  the  ability  to  spell  and  write 
words,  but  no  power  of  expression  with  the  pen  ;  a  varying  ability  to 
add,  subtract,  multiply,  and  divide  simple  numbers,  integral  and  frac- 
tional, but  much  uncertainty  in  all  other  arithmetical  operations ;  some 
fragmentary  book-knowledge  of  names  and  places  of  our  own  country 
and  of  foreign  countries  ;  and  some  scrappy  information  relating  to 
the  history  of  the  United  States. 

"  A  further  defect  of  this  barren  elementary  course  of  study  was  to 
create  a  gap  between  '  the  grades,'  as  they  were  called,  and  the  high 
school.  The  pursuit  of  literature,  art,  natural  science,  foreign  languages, 
was  usually  rigorously  excluded  from  '  the  grades  ' ;  and  the  pupil,  on 
entering  the  high  school,  found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  bewildering 
number  of  conceptions  wholly  new  to  him,  and  consequently  often  as 
uninteresting  and  as  devoid  of  significance  as  the  drill  of  his  grammar- 
school  period." 

MODERN  IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  Enlarged  Curriculum.  —  The  early  common-school 
curriculum  has  been  enlarged  from  time  to  time  during 
the  past  half  century,  by  the  addition  of  musjc^rawing, 
physiology  and  hygiene,  history  and  literature,  nature 
^udy,  and  the^riting^oT^En^risiri  In  many  city  schools 
and  in  some  rural  schools,  the  course  has  recently  been 
further  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  elementary  algebra 
and_geometry.  Moreover,  in  many  city  schools,  manual 
training  has  been  introduced  in  the  form  of  sewing,  cook- 
ing, and  tool-work.  In  many  cities  graded  evening  schools 
are  kept  open  during  the  winter  season,  and  in  some 
places,  as  in  San  Francisco,  such  schools  are  continued 


COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY         125 

throughout  the  year,  and  are  regularly  graded.  These 
schools  include  the  common  studies  of  the  elementary 
course,  and  also  bookkeeping,  drawing,  typewriting,  sten- 
ography, and  certain  high  school  studies.  ^ 

Nor  has  this  general  progress  been  limited  to  the  ele- 
mentary schools.     Science  and  the  scientific  method  have 

led  t^^^^^^_'jj^j<'^^'^Tic;triir^  Ciirriridnm    in  high 

scHools,  riormal  schools,  colleges,  and  universities.  / 

But  the  greatest  enrichment  of  the  elementary  courses  ^^ 
of  study  consists,  not  so  much  in  the  addition  of  new  sub- 
jects, as  in  the  change  from  the  formal,  deductive,  logical, 
philosophical  method  of  former  times  to  the  inductive, 
scientific,  genetic  method  pursued,  to-day,  in  the  best 
schools.  Even  primary-grade  pupils  are  now  led  to  the 
direct  study  of  nature  at  first  iiand.  Instruction  is  im- 
parted by  the  voice  of  the  earnest  teacher.  Pupils  are 
introduced  to  suitable  literature  at  an  early  age,  and  are 
led  to  form  a  taste  for  good  and  wholesome  reading.  The_[ 
general  equipment  of  schools  with  small  school  libraries 
of  appropriate  modern  literature,  for  supplementary  read- 
ing at  home  or  in  school,  has  proved  one  of  the  greatest 
sources  of  enrichment.  In  many  cities  and  towns  free 
public  libraries  reinforce  the  school  libraries. 

The  Kindergarten.  —  One  notable  means  of  enriching 
the  common-school  course  is  the  kindergarten  method  of 
training  young  children  from  four  to  six  years  of  age. 
This  has  proved  the  possibility  of  beginning  school  educa- 
tion before  children  learn  to  read  and  write.  Created  by 
the  genius  of  Froebel  a  little  before  the  middle  of  this 
century,  the  kindergartenwas transplanted  from  Qfj^rmariy  _ 
to  America  in  1855.  This  new  educational  movement 
was  taken  up  by  charitable  associations  and  societies, 
and  free  kindergartens  were   opened   in  various  parts  of 


126       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

the  United  States  for  the  children  of  the  poor  in  great 
cities. 

The  first  public-school  kindergarten  was  established  in 
St.  Louis  (1873),  through  the  combined  influence  of  Wil- 
liam T.  Harris,  then  City  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools, 
and  Miss  Susan  E.  Blow.  In  1896  the  number  of  public 
school  kindergartens  in  St.  Louis  was  ninety-five.  Phila- 
delphia, Boston,  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  New  York,  and 
many  other  cities  have  made  the  kindergarten  a  part  of 
their  school  system.  According  to  the  report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education  (1895-96),  there  were  in  the 
United  States  924  free  public-school  kindergartens,  the 
three  leading  states  being  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania, 
and  New  York. 

The  kindergarten  method  has  stimulated  child  studyj^ 
it  has  si  mpHgedJn  struct  ion  in  thp  lower  prJmgry^graHpg  ; 
it  has,  introduced  a  natural^  method  of  teaching  young 
children  to  sing ;  it  has  proved  its  power  in  m^raljtrain- 
ing.  It  is  only  a  question  of  time  when  it  will  become  a 
vital  part  of  all  city  school  systems.  The  German  type  of 
kindergarten  is  not  perfect,  and  it  has  already  been  ma- 
terially modified  to  meet  its  American  environment.  It 
will  doubtless  experience  further  changes  in  methods  and 
management. 

A  DECADE  OF  CHANGE. 

During  the  past  ten  years  (1888-98)  there  has  been  a 
period  of  unprecedented  educational  activity  and  improve- 
ment all  over  the  land.  Marked  changes  in  courses  of 
study  and  in  methods  of  teaching  have  occasioned  some 
friction  ;  for  teachers  are  conservative,  and  require  time 
to  adapt  themselves  to  new  conditions.  It  has  conse- 
quently become  a  matter  of  vital  importance  to  make 
room  for  the  new  studies  and  to  find  time  for  old  ones 


COMMON-SCHOOL   COURSES  OF  STUDY         127 

without  overtasking  pupils.  For  the  adaptation  of  courses 
of  instruction  has  only  begun,  and  psychological  methods 
are  in  their  infancy. 

The  comparative  value  of  studies  in  the  modern  school 
curriculum,  the  distribution  of  time  to  each  study,  the  best 
methods  of  grading  and  promoting  pupils,  the  value  of 
oral  instruction  as  contrasted  with  the  dead  formalism 
of  text-book  study  and  memorized  recitations  ;  the  fitting 
of  grammar  school  work  to  connect  with  enlightened  high 
school  courses ;  the  closer  inter-relation  of  high  schools 
with  the  varied  courses  in  public  colleges  and  state  uni- 
versities ;  the  extent  of  elective  studies  in  grammar 
school,  high  school,  college,  and  university  ;  —  all  these  are 
now  the  subjects  of  earnest  investigation  by  the  pedagogit 
departments  of  universities,  by  college  presidents,  by 
normal-school  principals,  by  school  superintendents,  by 
boards  of  education,  by  educational  journals,  by  the  lit- 
erary magazines,  and  by  thousands  of  thoughtful  and  pro- 
gressive teachers  of  elementary  schools.  It  may  require 
many  years  of  observation,  experiment,  and  discussion 
before  any  general  conclusion  shall  be  reached.  Indeed, 
entire  agreement  on  this  complex  question  may  never  be 
reached.  All__enlightened  educators  agree  that  Chinese 
jiniformity  is_undesirable,  even  if  it  were  possible.  Flex- 
ible courses,  adapted  to  varying  conditions  are  most  to 
"~tie"Hesired. 

WHY  PROGRESS  IS  SLOW. 

Conservatism  and  Progress.  —  Though  the  development 
of  the  primitive  colonial  school  curriculum  into  the  highly 
differentiated  course  of  instruction  in  the  American  public 
school  system  of  to-day  was  slow  for  a  period  of  two 
centuries,  it  kept  even  pace  with  the  evolution  of  civil 


128       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

government,  the  extension  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  the 
"^increase"  in  population^  the  accumulation  of  wealth^^nd 
tft^'lh^usffialand  commercial  prosperity  of  our  country. 
^nmnTdeFTRe  American  system  of  local  school  manage- 
ment, uniform  development  is  impossible.  As  vestiges 
of  the  *'  homespun  age  "  are  still  found  in  some  rural 
sections  of  our  country,  so  there  are  schools  yet  in  ex- 
istence that  closely  resemble  those  of  a  century  ago.  The 
subject  of  improvement  of  rural  schools  is  still  under 
earnest  consideration  by  all  thoughtful  educators.  The 
question  of  securing  good  public  school  management  in 
great  cities  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  before 
the  American  people  to-day. 

The  Law  of  Change.  —  In  taking  leave  of  the  old  cur- 
riculum and  its  antiquated  pedagogical  methods,  we  do 
so  without  regret.  All  enlightened  educators  recognize 
the  truth  that  school  systems  and  pedagogical  methods 
mustbe  subject  to  change  in  order  to  meet  the  sujccessiye 
stages  in  the  political,  social,  and  industrial  development 
ot  a]^eopTeT  "  Every  educational  system,"  says  a  modern 
leader  of  educational  thought  in  Germany,  ''  grows  his- 
torically from  the  general  status  of  science  and  the  views 
of  the  world  and  life  of  a  people  and  its  age ;  conse- 
quently there  is  no  system  of  education  generally  appli- 
cable to  all  ages."  In  a  recent  paper  on  "  Scientific  vs. 
Poetic  Study  of  Education,"  Professor  Charles  De  Garmo 
says :  ^ 

"  How  can  one  make  a  scientific  study  of  educational  ends  for  the 
present  age  ?  Only,  I  apprehend,  by  applying  to  education  the  methods 
that  have  illuminated  other  fields  of  research.  If  every  known  science, 
natural  and  human,  except  education,  has  been  made  alive  by  the  his- 
torical or  comparative  method,  why  should  we  not  expect  it  will  do  as 

1  Educational  Review,  March,  1899. 


COMMON-SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY         129 

much  for  that  ?  Such  a  method  would  show  that,  despite  the  visions 
of  the  poets,  every  nation,  race,  or  order  having  the  power,  has  given 
a  training  to  its  youth  that  in  its  opinion  best  furnished  the  true  requi- 
sites for  survival.  Open  at  any  chapter  in  the  history  of  civilization, 
and  if  you  would  understand  the  education  of  the  people,  study  their 
ideals  and  institutions.  In  these  you  will  find  the  key  to  their  educa- 
tion. If  the  national  purposes  are  simple,  the  education  is  marked  by 
like  simplicity  in  its  aims  ;  if  the  national  life  is  complex,  the  same 
complexity  is  found  in  education.  Would  an  American  teacher  study 
scientifically  the  ends  for  which  we  educate,  let  him  study  the  evolu- 
tion of  this  people.  It  is  not  an  easy  task,  for  in  two  hundred  years 
we  have  many  times  repeated,  in  one  portion  and  another  of  our  vast 
domain,  the  principal  stages  of  the  more  slowly  developing  European 
civilizations.  The  student  will  have  to  follow  with  fidelity  the  stages 
of  our  development  in  religion,  government,  and  politics  ;  he  will  need 
to  follow  the  unfolding  of  our  material  wealth  in  the  development  of 
natural  resources,  the  growth  of  manufacture,  and  the  invention  and 
perfection  of  wonderful  instruments  of  "transportation  and  communica- 
tion ;  he  will  have  to  investigate  the  financial  problems  of  universal 
education,  the  growing  independence  and  increased  public  services  of 
women.  In  short,  to  comprehend  the  ends  of  our  education  as  they 
are,  he  will  have  to  become  a  student  of  our  civilization  as  it  is." 

We  believe  that  the  schools  of  to-day  are  better  in 
most  respects  than  those  of  the  period  we  have  had  under 
consideration.     But  in  contrasting  the  two  systems  we 
must  consider  each  in  relation  to  its  environment.     The 
real  question  which  the  pedagogical  student  should  at- 
tempt to  decide  is  whether,  on  the  whole,  the  schools  of 
to-day  fit  pupils  fqr_their  life-work,  under  the  social  condk, 
tions  of  present  times,  better  than  the  old-time  schools 
fitted  children   for  the  life  environments    of  their  own  j 
time.     By  laws,  customs,  and  traditions,  the  past  holds  a 
strong  grasp  on  the  present,  and  we  cannot  escape  from 
it  if  we  would.     In   a   succeeding  chapter  a  few  special 
studies  on  primitive  school  text-books  may  be  of  aid  in 
arriving  at  a  final  judgment. 
AM.  PUB.  scH. — 9 


CHAPTER  VI 
STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS 

It  is  not  a  matter  of  idle  curiosity  that  leads  the  stu- 
dent of  educational  history  to  gather  up  and  examine 
primitive  school  text-books.  In  early  days  these  t.fext-^ 
books  absolutely  determined  the  course  of  study,  and 
'Fromthemjvve^  can  gainLSome  knowledge^ofvvhat  school 
children  really  studied  and  memorized  under  the  narrow 
curriculum  of  the  common  school  in  early  tiroes.  In  no 
other  way  can  we  ascertain  the  extent  to  which  the 
schools  of  to-day  are  hampered  by  the  conventional  cus- 
toms or  traditions  of  the  past,  or  how  far  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  our  better  psychological  or  genetic 
methods  of  instruction. 

TEXT-BOOKS  IN  READING  AND  SPELLING. 

The  early  EnglML-Colonlsts  in  Virginia  and  New  Eng- 
land brought  with  them  the  *'  hornbook,"  the  church 
catechisms,  a  fe:w_§pelling_books,  an  arithmetjc,  and_the_ 
Bible.  The  settlers  of  New  York  brought  with  them 
from  the  Netherlands,  the  catechism  of  the  Dutch  Re- 
formed Church,  the  Bible,  and  the  primers  of  Holland, 
and  their  children  were  trained  to  read  and  write  their 
mother  tongue  according  to  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

In  Boston  and  the  surrounding  grammar  school 
towns,  the  boys,  at  the  age  of  seven  years,  or  when  they 
could  **  read  the  English  language  by  spelling  the  same," 

130 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     131 

or  the  catechism,  or  the  Psalter,  were  admitted  to  the 
grammar  schools  in  which  the  major  study  was,  in 
the  beginning,  Latin  grammar,  and  the  minor  and  inci- 
dental branches  were  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
In  the  rural  schools  of  New  England  the  hornbook  was 
the  only  school  chart,  and  the  reading  books  were  Dil- 
worth's  or  Perry's  Speller  —  both  English,  or  the  New 
England  Primer,  or  the  Psalter,  or  the  New  Testament. 
The  "  Psalter  "  was  a  collection  of  the  Psalms  of  David, 
the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and  the  Church  Creed. 

The  English  Hornbook.  —  This  "  hornbook  "  was  a 
paper  sheet  on  which  were  printed  the  alphabet  in  capitals 
and  small  letters,  the  vowels,  and  combinations  of  one 
vowel  with  one  consonant ;  as,  ab,  eb,  ib,  ob,  ub  ;  ba, 
be,  bi,  bo,  bu,  by,  etc.  Then  followed  the  benediction, 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the  Roman  numerals.  This 
printed  paper  was  pasted  on  a  piece  of  thin  woodboard 
and  covered  by  a  translucent  sheet  of  horn,  held  in  place 
by  a  brass  frame  or  binding.  Authentic  specimens  of  the 
hornbook  are  now  rare  even  in  England. 

The  New  England  Primer.  —  After  the  hornbook  was 
learned,  the  "  New  England  Primer  "  was  taken  up.  This 
little  book,  rnainly  theological,  incidentally  educational, 
consisted  of  the  ''Assembly's  Shorter  Catechism," 
with  various  additions  to  adapt  it  for  school  use.  It  was 
also  extensively  used  in  families  and  Sunday-schools. 
The  first  edition  probably  appeared  about  1660,  as  an  im- 
provement on  some  primer  from  England.  One  of  the 
best-known  editions  is  a  fac  simile  reprint  of  the  edition 
of  1777,  the  full  title  of  which  runs  as  follows  :  "  The  New 
England  Primer  improved  for  the  more  easy  attaining 
the  true  reading  of  English,  to  which  is  added  the  As- 
sembly of  Divines,  and  Mr.  Cotton's  Catechism,  Boston, 


132 


HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


1777."  This  correlation  of  reading  and  theology  affords 
a  striking  illustration  of  the  extreme  type  of  the  educa- 
tional, metaphysical,  and  theological  formalism  of  that 
time. 

The  frontispiece  is  a  full-page  wood-cut  of  ''  The  Hon- 
orable John  Hancock,  Esq.,  President  of  the  American 
Congress."  The  first  page  contains  the  alphabet  in  capi- 
tals, small  letters,  and  italics ;  the  next  two  pages  include 
combinations  of  single  vowels  with  single  consonants,  as, 
ab,  eb,  ib,  ob,  ub ;  ba,  be,  bi,  bo,  bu ;  az,  ez,  iz,  oz,  uz ; 
za,  ze,  zi,  zo,  zu.  Following  this  there  are  three  pages  of 
words  for  spelling ;  the  first  lesson  consisting  of  words  of 
one  syllable ;  the  second,  of  words  of  two  syllables ;  the 
third,  of  words  of  three  syllables ;  and  the  sixth,  of  such 
words  as  abomination,  edification,  humiliation,  mor-tifi- 
ca-tion. 

Reading.  —  The  following  is  half  of  the  first  regular 
lesson  in  reading : 

"  Call  no  ill  names.  Speak  the  truth. 

Use  no  ill  words.  -  Spend  your  time  well. 

Tell  no  lies.  Love  your  school. 

Hate  lies.  -  Mind  your  book. 

Strive  to  learn.  Be  not  a  dunce." 

Next  there  follows  an  illustrated  alphabet,  with  a  short 
couplet  after  each  letter,  each  couplet  having  a  rude 
wood-cut  illustrating  the  text.  The  following  extracts 
will  illustrate  the  character  of  these  rhymes : 

A.  In  Adam's  fall  ^  Q.  Queen  Esther  sues 
We  sin-ned  all.  J  And  saves  ihtjews. 

D.  The  Deluge  drown'd  T.  Young  Timothy 
The  Earth  around.  Learnt  sin  to  fly. 

E.  Elijah  hid  W.  Whales  in  the  sea 
By  Ravens  fed.  God's  voice  obey. 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     133 

F.  The  judgment  made  X.  Xerxes  did  die 
Felix  afraid.  And  so  must  I. 

O.  Young  Obadias,  Z.  Zaccheus  he 

David,  Josias,  Did  cHmb  the  tree 

All  were  pious.  Our  Lord  to  see. 

In  subsequent  editions,  these  rhymed  couplets  were 
often  materially  changed.  In  one  edition,  I  find  the  fol- 
lowing substitutes  for  the  original  text : 

C.  The  Cat  doth  play  L.  The  Lion  bold 

And  after  slay.  The  Lamb  doth  hold. 

D.  A  Dog  will  bite  M.  The  Moon  gives  light 
A  thief  at  night.  In  time  of  night. 

F.  The  idle  Fool  O.  The  royal  oak  it  was  the  tree 

Is  whipped  at  school.  That  saved  his  royal  majesty. 

Other  Lessons.  —  The  succeeding  twenty  pages  of  read- 
ing lessons  include  the  following  topics  :  An  *'  Alphabet  of 
Lessons  for  Youth,"  mostly  composed  of  quotations  from 
the  Bible ;  the  Lord's  Prayer ;  the  Creed ;  Dr.  Watts' 
Cradle  Hymn  ;  Verses  for  Children  ;  "  Some  Proper 
Names  of  Men  and  Women,  to  teach  Children  to  spell 
their  Own ;  "  a  wood-cut  of  "  Mr.  John  Rogers,  the  first 
martyr  in  Queen  Mary's  reign,  who  was  burnt  at  Smith- 
field,  February  14,  1554,"  followed  by  a  poem  of  six  pages 
written  for  his  children  a  few  days  before  his  death ; 
Agur's  Prayer;  and  "Choice  Sentences,"  of  which  the 
following  is  an  example :  *'  Our  weakness  and  inabilities 
break  not  the  bond  of  our  duties." 

"  The  Shorter  Catechism,  agreed  upon  by  the  Reverend 
Assembly  of  Divines  at  Westminster,"  fills  twenty-four 
pages  of  print,  all  of  which  children  were  expected  to 
read,  memorize,  and  recite.  The  nature  of  the  task  set 
before  pupils  will  best  be  comprehended  by  a  single 
quotation. 


134       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

"  Q.  1 6.  Did  all  mankind  fall  in  Adam's  first  transgression  ? 

A.  The  covenant  being  made  with  Adam,  not  only  for  himself,  but 
for  his  posterity,  all  mankind  descending  from  him  by  ordinary  genera- 
tion, sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with  him  in  his  first  transgression." 

The  **  Assembly  Catechism"  is  followed  by  another 
catechism  of  nine  pages,  entitled :  ''  Spiritual  Milk  for 
American  Babes,  Drawn  out  of  the  Breasts  of  both  Testa- 
ments for  their  Soul's  Nourishment,  by  John  Cotton." 
In  the  later  editions,  Cotton's  Catechism  was  omitted. 
The  book  closes  with  a  dialogue  in  verse  entitled :  "  A 
Dialogue  between  Christ,  Youth,  and  the  Devil." 

This  primer  for  teaching  reading  reminds  one  of  the 
Chinese  primer  entitled  the  "  Three  Character  Classic," 
which  consists  of  178  poetical  couplets  in  rhyme,  with 
three  words  in  each  line.  But  this  Chinese  classic,  a 
thousand  years  old,  is  more  difficult  than  the  New  Eng- 
land Primer.  "  It  is,"  says  Professor  John  Fryer,  of  the 
University  of  California,  *'  a  most  difficult  and  abstruse 
epitome  of  the  whole  circle  of  Chinese  knowledge  written 
in  the  classical  or  dead  language,  as  are  all  Chinese  school 
books.  This  is  no  more  like  the  language  of  home,  or  of 
every-day  life  than  Greek  or  Latin  are  like  current  Eng- 
lish. When  the  primer  is  perfectly  memorized,  the  young 
pupil  proceeds  to  the  Thousand  Character  Classic,  a  book 
compiled  A.D.  550,  which  he  also  commits  to  memory. 
Besides  this  dreary  task,  he  is  expected  to  spend  some 
time  daily,  as  a  sort  of  recreation,  in  tracing  or  writing 
characters  with  the  Chinese  brush  or  pencil,  commencing 
with  large  ones,  from  one  to  two  inches  square,  and  de- 
creasing to  the  size  of  the  ordinary  current  hand.  Here 
the  poor  lad  only  learns  the  form  of  the  characters,  but  is 
not  given  the  faintest  idea  of  their  meaning." 

The   young  Chinese   boy  learned    by  heart    from   his 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS 


35 


"  Three  Character  Classic,"  and  shouted  aloud  to  his 
teacher,  a  Chinese  sentence,  which  means  in  English : 
"  Man,  as  to  his  nature,  is  originally  virtuous."  The 
American  boy  memorized  from  his  New  England  Primer, 
the  following  philosophic  rhyme  as  he  learned  the  first 
letter  of  the  alphabet :  *'  In  Adam's  fall,  we  sin-ned  all." 

The  Bible.  —  In  connection  with  the  New  England 
Primer,  the  New  Testament  was  largely  used  as  a  read- 
ing book.  As  an  opening  exercise  each  pupil  in  turn 
read  one  verse.  This  custom  continued  in  use  in  most 
schools  up  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

At  a  later  colonial  period  various  English  readers  and 
spellers  came  gradually  into  use,  such  as  the  ''  English 
Reader,"  Perry's  "  Spelling  Book,  the  Only  Sure  Guide 
to  the  English  Tongue,"  and  Dihvorth's  ''  Spelling  Book," 
published  about  the  middle  of  the  century,  which  con- 
tained, in  addition  to  columns  of  words,  a  few  elementary 
principles  of  grammar. 

Webster's  Spelling  Book.  —  One  of  the  most  notable 
of  the  early  American  school-book  authors  was  Noah 
Webster,  who  published,  in  1783,  "An  American  Spelling 
Book,"  which  soon  went  into  general  use  throughout  the 
United  States.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  most  of  the  school  children  in  our  country  began 
both  reading  and  spelling  with  the  use  of  Webster's 
Spelling  Book. 

This  famous  old  schoolbook  was  developed  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  formal  scholastic  logic  and  the 
orthodox  pedagogical  philosophy  of  a  century  ago.  Like 
the  hornbook  and  the  primer,  it  begins  with  the  alphabet 
and  proceeds  with  mathematical  exactness  to  combina- 
tions of  one  consonant  with  one  vowel ;  next  proceeds  to 
combine  three  letters,  then  takes  up  words  of  two  sylla- 


136       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

bles,  and  so  on  up  to  a-bom-i-na-tion  and  un-in-tel-li-gi- 
bil-i-ty. 

This  method  of  developing  language  by  syllables  in 
general  disregard  of  thought  is  best  made  evident  by 
reproducing  a  few  lessons  verbatim.  After  two  pages 
devoted  to  the  alphabet  in  Roman  letters,  Italic,  Old 
English,  and  script,  with  the  numerals,  the  reading  and 
spelling  lessons  proceed  as  follows : 

No.  i-I. 


ba 

be 

bi 

bo 

bu 

by 

ca 

ce 

ci 

CO 

cu 

cy 

da 

de 

di 

do 

du 

dy 

fa 

fe 

fi 

fo 

fu 

fy 

ga 

ge 

gi 

go 

gu 

gy 

go  on. 

by 

me. 

it  is. 

is  he. 

go  in. 

we 

go. 

to  me. 

he  is. 

go  up. 

to  us. 

to  be. 

I  am. 

an  ox. 

do 

go. 

No. 

3- 

on  it 
III. 

• 

on  us. 

is  he  to 

go- 

is  it 

by 

us. 

we  go  to  it. 

he  is  to 

go- 

it  is 

by 

us. 

he  is 

by  me. 

am  I  to 

go. 

if  he  is  in. 

so  he 

is  up. 

I  am  to 

go. 

go  up 

to  it. 

sol 

am  up. 

No. 

6-VI. 

is  he  to  do  so  by- 

me. 

it  is  to  be 

by  me. 

he  is  to  do  so  by 

me. 

by  me  it  is 

to  be. 

so  I  am  to  be  in. 

I  am  to  be 

as  he  is 

he  is  to  go  up  by 

it. 

he  is  to  be 

as  I  am 

No. 

lo-X. 

pha 

phe 

phi 

pho 

phu 

phy 

qua 

que 

qui 

quo 

spa 

spe 

spi 

spo 

spu 

spy 

sta 

ste 

sti 

sto 

stu 

sty 

sra 

see 

sci 

SCO 

scu 

scy 

swa 

swe 

swi 

swo 

swu 

swy 

STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     137 


No. 

ii-XI. 

spla 

sple 

spli 

splo 

splu 

sply 

spra 

spre 

spri 

spro 

spru 

spry 

stra 

stre 

stri 

stro 

stru 

stry 

shra 

shre 

shri 

shro 

shru 

shry 

sera 

sere 

scri 

sero 

seru 

sery 

scla 

sele 

sell 

selo 

selu 

scly 

No.  54,  page  41,  contains  78  words  of  three  syllables, 
among  which  the  following  words  are  found :  "  liturgy, 
blasphemy,  litany,  betony,  scammony,  chancery,  sorcery, 
orrery." 

Lesson  No.  63,  of  39  words,  corj^ains,  "  disbursement, 
disfranchise,  hydraulics,  embargo." 

Lesson  121  consists  of  2%  words  of  seven  and  eight 
syllables,  among  which  are,  "incompatibility,  impercepti- 
bility,  irresistibility,  unintelligibility,  immalleability,  per- 
pendicularity, indefensibility." 

In  the  reading  lesson  attached  to  this  spelling  there  are 
eleven  sentences  for  reading  and  definition,  two  of  which 
run  as  follows :  "  The  indivisibility  of  matter  is  supposed 
to  be  demonstrably  false."  *'  Stones  are  remarkable  for 
their  immalleability." 

In  general,  about  three  fourths  of  each  page  was  de- 
voted to  short,  disconnected  sentences  in  reading,  the 
other  fourth  to  spelling.  Near  the  end  there  were  seven 
short  stories  and  fables  of  from  ten  to  twenty  lines  each. 
When  pupils  could  read  the  story  of  "  The  Two  Dogs," 
and  the  "Tale  of  the  Boy  that  Stole  Apples,"  they 
were  ready  to  begin  Webster's  "  American  Selection  "  or 
the  "  English  Reader." 

The  Little  Reader's  Assistant.  —  There  lies  on  my 
table  a  very  rare  old  book  entitled  :  "  The  Little  Reader's 
Assistant,  by  Noah  Webster ;  Northampton,  1791.    Third 


1 38       HISTOR  Y  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Edition."  The  author  says  in  the  preface  :  *'  The  com- 
piler of  this  work  has  been  repeatedly  requested  by  the 
instructors  of  schools  to  publish  a  small  book  containing 
familiar  stories  in  plain  language  for  the  benefit  of  chil- 
dren when  they  first  begin  to  read  without  spelling." 

The  table  of  contents  of  this  primitive  first  reader  is  as 
follows  : 

"  I.  A  number  of  stories  mostly  taken  from  the  history  of  America, 

and  adorned  with  cuts. 
II.  Rudiments  of  English  Grammar. 

III.  A  Federal  Catechism,  being  a  short  and  easy  explanation  of  the 

Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

IV.  General  Principles  of  Government  and  Commerce. 

V.  The  Farmer's  Catechism,  containing  plain  rules  of  husbandry. 
All  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  children." 

"  The  Little  Reader's  Assistant  "  is  a  book  of  136  pages, 
48  pages  being  given  to  reading;  51  to  grammar;  16  to 
the  Constitution  ;  8  to  principles  of  government  and  com- 
merce ;  8  to  the  Farmer's  Catechism,  and  3  to  Reform 
in  Spelling.  It  is  interesting  as  one  of  the  first  rough 
attempts  in  this  country  at  a  "  correlation  of  studies." 
It  is  rudely  bound  in  the  thin  wood  covers  of  that 
period.  The  history  stories  would  delight  the  Herbar- 
tians  of  the  present  day.  Some  of  these  are  as  follows  : 
"  Columbus ;  Capt.  John  Smith ;  First  Settlers  of  New 
England ;  Pequod  War ;  Philip's  War ;  Story  of  the 
Taking  of  Dover;  Burning  of  Schenectady;  Speech  of 
Logan;  Putnam  and  the  Wolf;  Putnam  a  Prisoner,"  etc. 

The  "  Rudiments  of  Grammar  "  is  a  simple  presenta- 
tion of  the  subject  to  beginners.  Noah  Webster  was  a 
reformer,  and  he  boldly  cut  loose  from  some  of  the  an- 
cient forms  of  the  Latin  grammar.  He  was  half  a  century 
ahead  of  his  times.     The  "  Federal  Catechism  "  is  a  clear 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT-BOOKS     139 

statement  of  the  Civil  Government  of  the  United  States. 
"  The  Farmer's  Catechism  "  is  probably  the  first  attempt 
made  in  this  country  to  introduce  the  teaching  of  agricul- 
ture into  the  common  schools.  It  doubtless  was  satisfac« 
tory  to  the  hard-fisted  farmers  of  that  period.  It  begins 
as  follows : 

"  Q.  What  is  the  best  business  a  man  can  do  ? 
A.  Tilling  the  ground,  or  farming. 
XQ.  Why  is  farming  the  best  business  ? 
/     A.  Because  it  is  the  most  necessary,  the  most  healthy,  the  most  in- 
miocent,  and  most  agreeable  employment  of  men. 

Q.  Why  is  farming  the  most  innocent  employment  ? 

A.  Because  farmers  have  fewer  temptations  to  be  wicked  than  other 
men.  .  .  .  They  have  but  little  dealings  with  others,  so  that  they  have 
(ewer  opportunities  to  cheat  than  other  men. 

Q.  What  is  the  great  art  of  cultivating  land  to  advantage  ? 

A.  It  consists  in  raising  the  greatest  quantity  of  produce  on  the 
smallest  quantity  of  land  with  the  least  expense  and  labor,"  etc. 

Murray's  English  Reader  —  The  title  of  this  notable  school  book  runs 
as  follows  :  "  Murray's  English  Reader,  or  pieces  in  prose  and  poetry 
selected  from  the  best  writers,  designed  to  assist  young  persons  to 
read  with  propriety  and  effect ;  to  improve  their  language  and  senti- 
ments, and  to  inculcate  some  of  the  most  important  principles  of  piety 
and  virtue,"  etc. 

The  first  lessons,  headed  "  Select  Sentences  and  Paragraphs," 
were  made  up  of  philosophical  aphorisms  like  the  following  :  "  Dili- 
gence, industry,  and  proper  improvement  of  time  are  material  duties 
of  the  young," 

"  Virtuous  youth  gradually  brings  forward  accomplished  and  flour- 
ishing manhood." 

"  Whatever  useful  or  engaging  endowments  we  possess,  virtue  is 
requisite,  in  order  to  their  shining  with  proper  lustre."  "  Society, 
when  formed,  requires  distinctions  of  property,  diversity  of  conditions, 
subordination  of  ranks,  and  a  multiplicity  of  occupations,  in  order  to 
advance  the  general  good." 

The  titles  of  a  few  selections  will  show  their  didactic,  abstract,  and 
metaphysical  character  :     "  The  Vanity  of  Wealth  ;  "  "  The  Trials  of 


I40      HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Virtue  ;  "  "  Reflections  on  a  Future  State  from  a  View  of  Winter  ;  " 
"Change  of  External  Condition  Often  Adverse  to  Virtue;"  "The 
Good  Man's  Comfort  in  Affliction  ; "  "  The  Pleasures  of  Virtuous  Sen- 
sibiHty  ;  "  "  The  Pleasures  of  Retirement ;  "  etc. 

The  American  Selection. — "  The  American  Selection  "  was  a  reading 
book  published  by  Noah  Webster  (1785).  In  his  preface  the  author 
says  :  "  I  consider  it  a  capital  fault  in  all  our  schools,  that  the  books 
generally  used  contain  subjects  wholly  uninteresting  to  our  youth.  In 
the  choice  of  pieces,  I  have  been  attentive  to  the  politiqal  interests  of 
America."  We  find  the  subject  matter  of  this  American  reader  su- 
perior to  the  metaphysical  abstractions  and  philosophical  essays  of  the 
English  Reader.  In  the  table  of  contents  there  are  numerous  histor- 
ical pieces,  such  as  :  Washington's  Resignation  ;  Sketch  of  the  Late 
War  (14  pages)  ;  Captivity  of  Mrs.  Howe,  etc. ;  patriotic  selections, 
such  as  Warren's  Oration  on  the  Boston  Massacre  ;  State  papers,  such 
as,  Declaration  of  the  American  Congress,  July  6,  1775  ;  ^"^  Oration  by 
Joel  Barlow,  July  4,  1787.  There  are  several  geographical  sketches, 
numerous  extracts  from  Shakespeare,  a  number  of  humorous  dia- 
logues, and  a  few  rules  and  directions  for  reading  and  speaking. 

Modern  Reading  Books.  —  About  the  middle  of  the 
century  there  were  published  a  number  of  graded  read- 
ers  to  meet  the  needs  of  graded  schools,  among  which 
McGuffey's  series  was  one  of  the  most  popular.  For  a 
long  period  these  readers  were  extensively  used  in  the 
Western  and  Southern  States,  and,  in  a  revised  form,  they 
are  still  in  use.  Another  well-known  series  was  that  of 
Salem  Town. 

A  marked  departure  from  the  purely  literary  "  scrap- 
book  "  style  of  readers  was  the  series  by  Marcius  Willson, 
in  which  the  author  correlated  nature  studies  with  read- 
ing. These  readers  were  the  forerunners  of  the  numerous 
illustrated  supplementary  readers  and  nature  stories  that 
have  enriched  the  course  in  reading  during  the  last  decade. 
Ten  years  later  there  appeared  Appleton's  Readers,  edited 
by  William  T.  Harris,  characterized  by  their  high  literary 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     141 

standard.  These  were  followed  a  little  later  by  Swinton's 
series  of  readers  and  supplementary  readers,  which  com- 
bined literature  with  nature  stories.  Baldwin's  School 
Reading  by  Grades  (1897),  consists  of  a  series  of  eight 
carefully-graded  books,  each  book  being  adapted  to  the 
work  of  a  single  school  year.  This  excellent  series  is 
typical  of  the  most  recent  form  of  numerous  school 
reading  books. 

The  Modern  Method.  —  There  has  been^  during  the 
last  decade,  a  great  enrichment  of  the  course  in  reading, 
through  the  introduction  of  supplementary  reading  books 
and  leaflets  of  good  literature.  In  the  primary  grades  the 
fairy  tales  of  Hans  Andersen,  and  of  Grimm,  stories, 
myths,  and  fables,  put  into  plain  language,  open  a  new 
world  of  delight  to  children  and  stimulate  them  to  read 
for  the  pleasure  of  reading.  Beautifully  illustrated  nature 
stories  are  of  unfailing  interest,  while  for  the  higher 
grades,  the  subject-matter  is  drawn  from  history,  liter- 
ature, and  science. 

SCHOOL  ARITHMETICS. 

In  the  beginning  of  colonial  times,  primitive  ordi- 
nances required  only  reading,  writing,  and  the  catechism 
to  be  taught  in  common  schools.  But  in  most  schools 
some  instruction  was  given  in  arithmetic  to  the  extent  of 
the  *'  four  rules,"  and  even  of  '*  vulgar_Jractions,"  and 
"me" rule  of jthree."  George  H.  Martin  says:  "  In  1789, 
no  knowledge  even  of  common  arithmetic  was  required 
for  admission  to  Harvard,  nor  was  the  candidate  required 
to  know  anything  of  geography.  But  in  18 14  the  college 
called  for  arithmetic  to  the  rule  of  three,  and  announced 
that  after  1815  it  would  also  demand  a   knowledge   of 


142 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


ancient  and  modern  geography.  In  1816  it  asked  for 
the  whole  of  the  arithmetic.  Yale,  too,  enlarged  its 
requirements  about  the  same  time." 

English  Books.  — The  earliest  text-books  used  by  the 
colonial  schoolmasters  were  brought  over  from  England, 
though  afterwards  reprinted  in  the  colonies.  One  of  the 
most  popular  of  these  was  *'  Hodder's  Arithmetic,  or,  That 
Necessary  Art  Made  Easy,"  which  passed  through  many 
editions  before  1719.  There  was  another  famous  English 
text-book  (1688),  the  full  title  of  which  ran  as  follows: 
"  Cocker's  Arithmetick,  Being  a  plain  and  familiar  Method, 
suitable  to  the  meanest  capacity,  for  the  full  understand- 
ing of  that  incomparable  Art,  as  it  is  now  taught  in  City 
and  Country,  Composed  by  Edward  Cocker,  late  Prac- 
titioner in  the  Arts  of  Writing,  Arithmetic,  and  En- 
graving (1688)."  Later  there  came  Thomas  Dilworth's 
"  Schoolmaster's  Assistant." 

American  Books.  —  "  The  earliest  arithmetic  written 
and  printed  in  America,"  says  Professor  Cajori,  in  his 
"  History  of  Mathematics,"  "  appeared  anonymously  in 
Boston,  in  1729."  This  book  had  only  a  limited  sale. 
But  at  length  there  was  pubhshed  (1788)  an  American 
text-book  entitled,  "A  New  and  Complete  System  of 
Arithmetic,  composed  for  the  use  of  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  by  Nicholas  Pike,  A.  M.,  Newburyport,  Mass., 
1788."  This  bulky  volume  of  512  pages  contained  over 
300  rules.  Everything  was  done  by  rule.  The  author 
everywhere  adheres  strictly  to  the  time-honored  "  logical  " 
method  of  rule,  example,  problems,  or  exercises.  At  the 
time  of  its  publication  there  were  in  use  in  the  United 
States  nine  different  kinds  of  currency,  and  the  various 
problems  given  under  the  head  of  business  exchange  re- 
quired fifty-eight  specific  rules.     There  were  many  pages 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS 


143 


of  exercises  in  ''  English  Money,"  but  only  two  pages 
were  devoted  to  "  Federal  Money."  These  two  pages  had 
become  necessary  because  Congress  had  adopted  (1786) 
the  decimal  currency  of  the  United  States.  Jefferson  de- 
sired to  extend  the  decimal  system  to  weights  and  meas- 
ures, but  this  radical  reform  was  rejected. 

This  new  American  schoolbook  constituted  a  tough 
piece  of  resistance  for  the  big  boys,  who  frequently 
attended  the  winter  school  until  they  were  twenty-one 
years  of  age.  It  kept  them  busy  for  winter  after  winter, 
and  few  there  were  that  ever  got  to  the  end  of  it.  It 
contained  a  full  treatment  of  Permutation,  Progression, 
Alligation,  Single  Position,  Double  Position,  and  many 
other  barbarisms  which  are  now,  fortunately  for  the  chil- 
dren, eliminated  from  school  text-books.  The  advanced 
problems,  or  ''  sums,"  as  they  were  then  called,  related  to 
the  mechanical  powers,  gravity,  the  calculation  of  the  age 
of  the  moon,  and  the  time  of  high  and  low  tides.  It 
dominated  the  type  of  succeeding  arithmetics  for  more 
than  half  a  century,  and  its  influence  on  the  order  of 
topics  can  still  be  perceived  in  many  of  the  text-books 
now  in  use. 

The  order  of  subjects  in  this  book  makes  an  interesting  peda- 
gogical study  for  teachers.  This  order  reads,  in  full,  as  follows  : 
simple  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication  (40  pages)  ;  compound 
addition  and  subtraction,  with  tables  and  problems  (17  pages)  ; 
reduction,  ascending  and  descending,  and  vulgar  fractions  (14 
pages)  ;  decimal  fractions  (3  pages)  ;  Federal  Money  (2  pages)  ; 
compound  multiplication  and  division  (12  pages)  ;  reduction  of 
coins,  (12  pages)  ;  duodecimals  and  single  rule  of  three  (16  pages)  ; 
rule  of  three  in  vulgar  fractions  and  decimals  (8  pages)  ;  rule  of 
three  inverse  (3  pages)  ;  compound  proportion  (5  pages)  ;  conjoined 
proportion  (7  pages)  ;  single  fellowship  and  double  fellowship  (8 
pages)  ;  practice  (i.e.,  business  calculations  in  all  sorts  of  problems  in 


[44 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


all  kinds  of  currency  (29  pages)  ;  tare  and  trett,  extraction  of  square 
root,  cube  root,  bi-quadrate  root,  sur-solid  root,  and  roots  by  approx- 
^pmation,  —  in  all  (24  pages)  ;  arithmetical  progression  and  geometrical 
progression  (32  pages)  ;  simple  interest  and  interest  by  decimals  (14 
pages)  ;  annuities,  discount,  discount  by  decimals  (17  pages)  ;  barter, 
loss  and  gain,  equation  of  payments,  brokerage,  policies  of  insurance, 
compound  interest,  compound  interest  by  decimals,  discount  by  com- 
pound interest,  annuities  or  pensions  in  arrears  at  compound  interest, 
present  worth,  or  annuities  at  compound  interest,  annuities,  etc.,  in 
reversion,  and  purchasing  annuities  forever,  —  in  all  (53  pages)  ;  cir- 
culating decimals  (6  pages)  ;  alligation  alternate  (5  pages)  ;  single 
position  and  double  position  (5  pages)  ;  permutations  and  combina- 
tions (6  pages)  ;  "  Miscellaneous  Questions,  wuth  the  Method  of  Solu- 
tion," including  problems  of  all  kinds  in  physics,  relating  to  the  me- 
chanical powers,  specific  gravity,  the  tides,  astronomy,  etc.  (31  pages)  ; 
tables  of  exchange  (16  pages)  ;  chronological  problems  (14  pages)  ; 
use  of  logarithms  (2  pages)  ;  "  plane  trigonometry  "  (16  pages)  ;  men- 
suration of  superficies  and  solids  (36  pages). 

The  final  problem  at  the  foot  of  page  468  reads  as  follows :  "31. 
Suppose  a  Ship  sails  from  Lat.  43^  North,  between  North  and  East, 
till  her  departure  from  the  Meridian  be  45  Leagues,  and  the  sum  of 
her  distance  and  difference  of  Latitude  to  be  135  Leagues  ;  I  demand 
her  distance  sailed,  and  Latitude  come  to  .'*  " 

Having  "  gone  through  "  all  the  topics  catalogued  above, 
which  are  condensed  into  468  pages,  ambitious  pupils  met 
with  *'  An  introduction  to  Algebra,  designed  for  the  use 
of  academies,"  which  carried  them  through  quadratics, 
thirty-two  pages.  The  pupils  who  wanted  still  more  of 
mathematics  were  next  ''introduced  "  to  twelve  pages  on 
conic  sections.  On  the  whole,  this  was  a  valuable  text- 
book for  college-bred  teachers,  and  a  passable  book  for 
common-school  boys  and  girls  that  never  got  further  than 
the  rule  of  three  (simple  proportion).  There  is  no  tradi- 
tion of  any  prodigy  in  any  common  school  that  ever 
reached  and  mastered  the  last  proposition  under  the  head 
of  "Section  III.  of  the   Hyperbola":  Prop.  4.     As  the 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     145 

transverse  axis  is  to  the  conjugate;  so  the  conjugate,  to 
thelatus  rectum  of  the  transverse  :  AB  :  VY  :  :  VY  :  LI. 
See  figure  12." 

This  full  edition  was  soon  followed  by  an  abridgment 
in  which  algebra  and  geometry  were  left  out.  Pike's 
Arithmetic  was  followed  (1800)  by  that  of  Nathan  DaboU 
which  was  succeeded  by  Daniel  Adams'  Arithmetic 
(181 1)  and  Oliver  Welch's  Arithmetic  (18 13).  At  a  later 
period  there  appeared  Smith's  Arithmetic,  Greenleaf's 
Arithmetic,  and  an  innumerable  company  of  arithme- 
tics. 

Colburn's  Arithmetic.  —  The  first  radical  departure  from 
the  old,  formal,  English  type  was  made  by  Warren  Col- 
burn  in  his  "Intellectual  Arithmetic  (1823).  This  book 
went  at  once  into  general  use.  It  was  characterized  by 
George  B.  Emerson  as  "a  faultless  text-book."  David 
P.  Page,  author  of  "Theory  and  Practice,"  said  of  it: 
"  In  three  weeks  I  had  mastered  it,  and  I  had  gained  in 
that  time  more  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  arithmetic 
than  I  had  ever  acquired  in  all  my  life  before."  This  book 
introduced  the  modern  inductive  and  analytical  method 
of  teaching  mental,  or  intellectual,  or  oral  arithmetic. 
The  abuse  of  this  book  consisted  in  crowding  it  upon 
young^nd  immaturejTiindSj_an^a^us^^  suf- 

fered to  some  extent  when  a  small  boy.  Such  questions 
as  the  following  confused  me  at  nine  or  ten  years  of  age  : 
Question  "  9  "  p.  86.  "  2  eighths  of  72  is  3  tenths  of  how 
many  fifths  of  40?"  Problem  183,  p.  143.  "A  man 
being  asked  how  many  sheep  he  had,  answered,  that  if  he 
had  as  many  more,  \  as  many  more  and  2\  sheep,  he 
would  have  100.     How  many  had  he  ?  " 

Graded  Books.  —  At  a  later  period,  to  meet  the  needs 

of  graded  schools,  various  "  three-book  series  "  of  arith 
AM.  PUB.  scH. — 10. 


146       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

metics  were  published,  of  which  the  Robinson  series  and 
the  Ray  series  are  familiar  types. 

Reform  Movements.  —  In  consequence  of  the  general 
introduction  of  music,  drawing,  literature,  and  elementary 
science  into  both  primary  and  grammar  school  grades,  and 
of  elementary  geometry  and  algebra  into  the  higher  gram- 
mar grades  of  city  schools,  the  undue  proportion  of  time 
formerly  devoted  to  arithmetic  has,  within  the  last  de- 
cadeTbeen  greatly  reduced.  The  introduction  into  city 
schools  of  manual  training  in  wood-work,  cooking,  and 
sewing  is  intensifying  the  demand  for  still  further  limita- 
tions of  the  time  given  to  this  study.  The  reform  move- 
ment in  the  teaching  of  arithmetic  has  found  aggressive 
leaders  among  university  presidents,  pedagogical  profes- 
sors, school  principals,  teachers,  and  hard-headed  business 
men. 

ENGLISH   GRAMMARS. 

"  The  Young  Lady's  Accidence,"  one  of  the  early  Eng- 
lish grammars  published  in  the  United  States  (1804), 
seems  to  have  been  the  first  English  grammar  used  in  the 
Boston  schools.  It  owes  its  title  to  the  fact  that  Caleb 
Bingham,  the  author,  wrote  it  for  use  in  a  private  school 
for  girls  which  he  had  opened  in  the  city  of  Boston.  Pre- 
vious to  this  time,  instruction  in  text-book  grammar  had 
been  limited  to  a  few  pages  inserted  in  "  Dilworth's 
Speller." 

Lindley  Murray's  English  Grammar.  —  This  book,  first 
published  in  England  (1795),  was  soon  after  republished 
in  this  country,  where  it  immediately  went  into  extensive 
use.  It  dominated  the  type  of  all  succeeding  American 
text-books  in  this  school  study  for  more  than  half  a  cen- 
tury.    It  was  an  Anglicized  Latin  grammar  which  applied 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS 


H7 


to  the  English  vernacular  most  of  the  forms  of  the  highly 
inflected  Latin  tongue.  Special  importance  was  attached 
to  "parsing"  according  to  Latin  models,  and  to  the  cor- 
rection of  innumerable  examples  of  "  false  syntax." 

There  lies  before  me  a  copy  of  this  famous  text-book,  printed  (1824) 
at  Exeter,  N.  H.  It  is  an  octave  of  334  pages,  of  which  28  are  devoted 
to  orthography,  95  to  etymology,  87  to  syntax,  32  to  prosody,  17  to 
punctuation  and  capitals,  and  60  pages  to  an  "  Appendix,  containing 
rules  and  observ^ations  for  assisting  young  persons  to  write  with  per- 
spicuity and  accuracy.  To  be  studied  after  they  have  acquired  a  com- 
petent knowledge  of  English  Grammar."  In  his  preface  the  author 
says  it  has  been  his  aim  to  make  his  definitions  and  rules  "  as  intelli- 
gible to  young  minds  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  and  the  difficulties 
attending  it  would  admit.  "  From  the  sentiment  generally  admitted, 
that  a  proper  selection  of  faulty  composition  is  more  instructive  to  the 
young  grammarian  than  any  rules  and  examples  of  propriety  that  can 
be  given,  the  compiler  has  been  induced  to  pay  peculiar  attention  to 
this  part  of  the  subject ;  and  though  the  instances  of  false  grammar, 
under  the  rules  of  syntax,  are  numerous,  it  is  hoped  they  will  not  be 
found  too  many,  when  their  variety  and  usefulness  are  considered." 

This  ancient,  "  logical,"  formal,  and  pedantic  text-book 
opens  with  the  following  misleading  definition  :  "  English 
grammar  is  the  art  of  speaking  and  writing  the  English 
language  with  propriety."  Then  there  follows  a  long 
treatise  on  "  orthography,"  which  is  a  formal  dictionary 
disquisition  of  eighteen  pages  on  the  sounds  of  the  let- 
ters. The  author's  treatment  of  etymolog}^  has  been  so 
closely  followed  in  many  American  school  grammars  that 
it  might  pass  current  in  the  schools  of  to-day.  Murray's 
twenty-two  rules  of  syntax  have  been  closely  followed  by 
the  authors  of  most  modern  grammars. 

The  models  of  etymological  and  syntactical  parsing, 
though  formal  and  Latinized,  are  shorter  and  simpler 
than  those  given  by  many  of  his  successors  and  imitators. 
The  first  model  for  "  etymological  parsing  "  is  as  follows ; 


148       HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

"  Virtue  ennobles  us."  Virtue  is  a  common  substantive,  of  the 
neuter  gender,  the  third  person,  the  singular  number,  and  in  the  nomi- 
native case.  (Decline  the  noun.)  Ennobles  is  a  regular  verb  active, 
indicative  mood,  present  tense,  and  the  third  person  singular.  (Repeat 
the  present  tense,  the  imperfect  participle.)  Us  is  a  personal  pronoun, 
of  the  first  person  plural,  and  in  the  objective  case.     (Decline  it.) 

The  "  specimen  of  syntactical  parsing  "  runs  as  follows  :  "  Vice 
produces  misery."  Vice  is  a  common  substantive,  of  the  neuter  gender, 
the  third  person,  the  singular  number,  and  in  the  nominative  case. 
Produces  is  a  regular  verb  active,  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third 
person  singular,  agreeing  with  nominative,  vice,  according  to  Rule  I. 
which  says  :  (here  repeat  the  rule.)  Misery  is  a  common  substantive, 
of  the  neuter  gender,  the  third  person,  the  singular  number,  and  the 
objective  case,  governed  by  the  active  verb,  produces,  according  to 
Rule  XI.  which  says,"  etc.  There  are  only  sixteen  short  sentences 
given  for  "  syntactical  parsing,"  but  the  models  cover  seven  pages. 

The  thirty-two  solid  pages  on  "  prosody  "  must  have 
proved  a  stumbling  block  to  the  boys  and  girls  of  former 
times.  The  probability  is  that  very  few  of  them  ever 
reached  the  224th  page  of  the  book.  The  author  states 
that  the  appendix  on  "  Perspicuity  and  Accuracy  "  is 
quoted,  in  the  main,  from  text-books  on  rhetoric  by  Blair 
and  Campbell.  The  student  of  methods  will  find  in  Mur- 
ray's Grammar  the  origin  of  much  of  the  unprofitable  and 
distasteful  drudgery  with  which  the  school  study  of  Eng- 
glish  grammar  has  been  encumbered  for  a  century,  and 
with  which,  in  many  schools,  it  is  still  loaded  down. 

Webster's  Grammar.  —  Noah  Webster,  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  American  text-book  makers,  published  (1783- 
86),  "  A  Grammatical  Institute  of  the  English  Language," 
which  comprised  (i)  ''The  American  Spelling  Book;" 
(2)  "  A  Plain  and  Comprehensive  Grammar  ;  "  (3)  "  The 
American  Selection "  (a  school  reading  book).  Web- 
ster's '*  Speller "  went  at  once  into  general  use  in  the 
United  States,  but  his  "  Grammar "  seems  to  have  been 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT-BOOKS 

limited  mainly  to  New  England.     In  1793  he  published 
"  The  Little  Reader's  Assistant,"  which  included   in   one  \ 
small  book  a  correlation  of  easy  reading  lessons,  the  rudi- 
ments of  grammar,  and  civil  government.  \ 

In  his  preface  to  the  "  Rudiments  of  Grammar,  compiled  at  the  re-  \ 

quest  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Grammar  School  at  Hartford,"  the  author  j 

remarks :  "  There  has  been  a  general  complaint  among  the  teachers  ? 

of  schools  that  the  Second  Part  of  the  Grammatical  Institute  is  a  work  y. 

too  complex  and  difficult  for  young  beginners  in  Grammar.      The  \ 
author  is  sensible  of  the  justness  of  this  complaint,  for  Grammar  is  a^,.^  | 

subject  difficult  in  itself,  and  not  easily  comprehended  even  by  adult^  ; 

//  t's  a  7nistake  that  children  ever  learn  their  native  tongue  by  rule  ;  \ 
they  learti  it  by  ear  and  practice.     Rules  are  drawn  from  the  most 

general  and  approved  practice,  and  serve  to  teach  young  students  how  \ 

far  their  own  practice  in  speaking  agrees  with  the  general  practice  of  j 

the  nation,  and  thus  enable  them  to  correct  their  errors."  \ 

The  original  preface  to  Goold  Brown's  "  First  Lines  in   English  '^, 

Grammar  "  (1823),  thirty  years  later,  reads,  in  part,  as  follows  :  "  The  \ 

only  successful  method  of  teaching  grammar,  is  to  cause  the  principal  ; 

definitions  and  rules  to  be  committed  thoroughly  to  memory,  that  they  j 

may  ever  afterwards  be  readily  applied.     And  the  pupil  should  be  ' 

alternately  exercised  in  learning  small  portions  of  his  book,  and  then  ] 

applying  them  in  parsing,  till  the  whole  is  rendered  familiar."  \ 

A  comparison  of  these  two  statements  made  by  two  eminent  gram- 
marians shows  that  the  reign  of  "  formal  grammar  "  had  not  only  con-  j 
tinued  unbroken  for  thirty  years,  but  that  it  had  also  become  intensi-  ' 
fied.     The  preface  by  Webster  frankly  stated  a  truth  now  generally  \ 
accepted  by  teachers,  while  that  of  Brown  emphasized  the  deadening 
formalism  of  the  ancient  regime. 

Other  Text-Books  on  Grammar.— In  the  half  century  \ 
succeeding  the  publication  of  Murray's  Grammar,  there  \ 
were  published  in  this  country  about  two  hundred  differ- 
ent text-books  on  English  grammar,  all  modeled  mainly  j 
on  the  plan  of  that  famous  book.  Among  the  best  known  \ 
of  these  were  the  grammars  of  Kirkham,  Smith,  Bullions,  1 
and  Goold  Brown.  S 


1 50       HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

Kirkham's  Grammar  (1823)  introduced  "  a  new  systematic  order  of 
parsing."  Taking  the  sentence,  "  John's  hand  trembles,"  the  follow- 
ing is  the  model  'for  parsing  the  word  hand:  "  Hand  is  a  noun,  the 
name  of  a  thing ;  common,  the  name  of  a  sort  or  species  of  things  ; 
neuter  gender,  it  denotes  a  thing  without  sex  ;  third  person,  spoken 
of ;  singular  number,  implies  but  one  ;  and  in  the  nominative  case,  it 
is  the  actor  and  subject  of  the  verb  trembles,  and  governs  it  agreeably 
to  Rule  3.  The  nominative  case  governs  the  verb  ;  that  is,  the  nomi- 
native determines  the  number  and  person  of  the  verb.  Declined  :  Sing, 
nom.  hand,  poss.  hand's,  obj.  hand ;  plu.  nom.  hands,  poss.  hands', 
obj.  hands."     His  model  for  parsing  a  verb  is  too  long  to  be  quoted. 

Goold  Brown  in  "  Brown's  Institutes  "  (1823),  says  in  his  preface  : 
"  In  the  w^hole  range  of  school  exercises  there  is  none  of  greater  im- 
portance than  that  of  parsing ;  and  yet,  perhaps,  there  is  none  more 
defectively  conducted.  Scarcely  less  useful,  as  a  means  of  instruction, 
is  the  practice  of  correcting  false  syntax  orally,  by  regular  and  logical 
forms  of  argument ;  nor  does  this  appear  to  have  been  more  ably 
directed  towards  the  purposes  of  discipline." 

The  author's  formula  for  parsing  a  verb  is  found  in  Praxis  V.  as 
follows  :  Sentence — "  Piety  has  the  purest  delight  attending  it."  Has 
is  an  irregular  active  transitive  verb,  from  have,  had,  having,  had ; 
found  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense,  third  person,  and  singular 
number. 

1.  A  verb  is  a  word  that  signifies  to  be,  to  act,  or  to  be  acted 
upon. 

2.  An  irregular  verb  is  a  verb  that  does  not  form  the  preterit  and 
the  perfect  participle  by  assuming  d  or  ed. 

3.  An  active  transitive  verb  is  a  verb  that  expresses  an  action  which 
has  some  person  or  thing  for  its  object. 

4.  The  indicative  mood  is  that  form  of  the  verb  which  simply  indi- 
cates or  declares  a  thing,  or  asks  a  question. 

5.  The  present  tense  is  that  which  expresses  what  now  exists  or  is 
taking  place. 

6.  The  third  person  is  that  which  denotes  the  person  or  thing  merely 
spoken  of. 

7.  The  singular  number  is  that  which  denotes  but  one. 

After  reading  a  formula  like  this  we  cease  to  wonder 
that  half  a  century  ago  pupils  -detested    grammar  ;  and 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT-BOOKS     151 

that  even  teachers  began  a  general  rebellion  against  such 
interminable  repetitions  of  definitions  and  rules. 

Goold  Brown's  "Grammar  of  Grammars'*  (1851),  a 
book  of  1002  pages,  fortunately  intended  for  teachers 
and  adults,  not  for  pupils,  is  a  remarkable  compilation  of 
examples  of  "  false  syntax  "  gleaned  from  English  litera- 
ture and  from  the  authors  of  other  school  grammars.  One 
rises  from  its  perusal  with  the  despairing  feeling  that 
nobody  ever  succeeded  '*  in  writing  the  English  language 
with  propriety." 

Having  waded  through  the  formalism  of  the  past, 
let  us  turn,  as  a  pleasant  relief,  to  trace  the  evolution 
of  a  more  rational  method  of  studying  our  mother 
tongue. 

An  Improved  Grammar.  —  It  was  my  good  fortune  in 
a  New  Hampshire  village  school  to  begin  the  study  of 
grammar  when  ten  years  of  age  (1840)  with  a  copy  of 
"■  English  Grammar  on  the  Productive  System ;  a  method 
of  instruction  recently  adopted  in  Germany  and  Switzer- 
land, by  Roswell  C.  Smith."  The  inductive  method  of 
this  book  was  a  marked  improvement  on  the  logical  for- 
malism of  previous  grammars.  Though  our  teacher  made 
no  explanations,  confining  himself  rigidly  to  asking  the 
questions  in  the  book,  we  had  Httle  difficulty  in  under- 
standing the  lessons.  At  the  end  of  a  year  we  began  to 
"  parse  "  in  Thomson's  "■  Seasons,"  which  was  followed 
by  Young's  "  Night  Thoughts.''  This  was  our  introduc- 
tion to  English  literature.  But  we  were  never  required 
to  write  a  composition,  nor  even  a  detached  sentence. 
Learning  to  write  the  English  language  by  actually  trying 
to  write  it  was  at  that  time  unknown  in  the  common 
school.  In  the  academy,  even  when  pursuing  a  Latin 
course,  which  included,  in   order,  a  Latin   Grammar  and 


152 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


Reader,  Sallust,  Caesar,  and  Virgil,  we  were  never  once 
required  to  render  a  written  translation. 

Sentence  Analysis.  —  The  publication  of  Greene's 
''  Analysis  "  (1847)  marks  the  beginning  of  a  revolt  against 
the  dead  formalism  of  grammatical  teaching.  One  sen- 
tence in  the  preface  of  this  book  conveys  a  pedagogical 
truth  now  generally  recognized :  "As  a  sentence  is  the 
expression  of  thought,  and  as  the  elements  of  a  sentence 
are  the  expressions  for  the  elements  of  thought,  the  pupil 
who  is  taught  to  separate  a  sentence  into  its  elements  is 
learning  to  analyze  thought,  and  consequently  to  think. 

Greene's  "  Analysis,"  a  book  designed  for  secondary 
schools,  was  soon  followed  by  Greene's  ''  Introduction," 
which  was  well  adapted  for  use  in  elementary  schools.  It 
contained  the  elements  of  etymology  and  syntax,  clearly 
stated,  and  provided  for  daily  exercises  in  sentence-anal- 
ysis and  sentence-making. 

This  new  feature  of  grammatical  work  was  immediately 
incorporated  into  revised  editions  of  other  text-books  on 
grammar ;  but  parsing  according  to  Latin  models  was  re- 
tained in  all  its  dead  formalism,  and  thus  a  double  burden 
was  imposed  on  the  school  children.  Sentence  analysis, 
introduced  as  a  reform,  was  soon  carried  to  a  painful  ex- 
treme of  complicated  minuteness,  and  was  finally  made 
mechanical  by  the  devices  of  wonderfully  constructed 
"  diagrams."  But  the  children  still  failed  "  to  write  and 
speak  the  English  language  with  propriety."  The  Mur- 
ray type  of  grammars  contained  no  suggestions  whatever 
about  the  writing  of  compositions. 

Language  Lessons.  —  Meantime  progressive  teachers 
were  beginning  to  train  pupils  to  write  good  English  by 
requiring  them  to  write  short  comspsitions  upon  subjects 
suited  to  the  age  and    capacity   of  children,  and    upon 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     153 

topics  connected  with  school  lessons  in  history,  geography, 
and  reading.  This  new  movement  in  language  practice 
was  embodied  in  Swinton's  *'  Language  Lessons  "  (1874), 
which  determined  the  type  of  numerous  succeeding  pubr 
lications  for  school  use. 

The  central  idea  of  Swinton's  Language  Lessons  is  set 
forth  in  the  author's  preface  as  follows  : 

"  This  book  is  an  attempt  to  bring  the  subject  of  language  home  to 
children  at  the  age  when  knowledge  is  acquired  in  an  objective  way, 
by  practice  and  habit,  rather  than  by  the  study  of  rules  and  definitions. 
In  pursuance  of  this  plan,  the  traditional  presentation  of  grammar  in 
a  bristling  array  of  classifications,  nomenclatures,  and  paradigms  has 
been  wholly  discarded.  The  pupil  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  living 
language  itself ;  he  is  made  to  deal  with  speech,  to  turn  it  over  in  a 
variety  of  ways,  to  handle  sentences  ;  so  that  he  is  not  kept  back  from 
the  exercise — so  profitable  and  interesting — of  using  language  till  he 
has  mastered  the  anatomy  of  the  grammarian.  Whatever  of  technical 
grammar  is  here  given  is  evolved  from  work  previously  done  by  the 
scholar." 

Swinton's  "  English  Grammar  and  Composition " 
(1877),  for  more  advanced  pupils,  emphasized  sentence 
building  and  composition  writing.  It  boldly  lopped  off 
orthography  and  prosody  as  a  part  of  modern  grammar. 
The  author  says  in  his  preface  :  "  The  necessity  of  a  grad- 
uated course  of  training  in  the  mother  tongue,  extending 
over  some  years,  and  beginning  in  practice  and  ending  in 
theory,  is  now  generally  recognized  and  acted  on  .  .  .  It  is 
earnestly  recommended  that  the  grammar  be  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  school  composition,  the  author's  ideal 
study  being :  three  grammar  lessons  and  two  composition 
lessons  a  week." 

*   SCHOOL  GEOGRAPHIES. 

Dwight^s    Geography. — During  the   colonial   period 


154 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


geography  was  not  included  by  law  in  the  common-school 
curriculum  though  sometimes  taught  incidentally.  The 
full  title  of  one  of  the  earliest  of  American  text-books 
on  this  subject  runs  as  follows  :  "A  short  but  comprehen- 
sive System  of  the  Geography  of  the  World  ;  by  way  of 
Question  and  Answer.  Principally  designed  for  Children 
and  Common  Schools.  By  Nathaniel  Dwight.  Boston, 
1801."  In  his  preface  to  the  first  edition,  dated  Hartford 
(1795),  republished  in  the  sixth  edition  (1801),  the  author 
says: 

•'  During  an  employment  of  several  years  in  school  keeping  I  observed 
that  the  science  of  Geography  was  but  little  attended  to  in  the  early 
days  of  childhood.  .  .  .  The  expense  of  this  book  is  so  small  that  it 
may  be  easily  afforded,  and  the  form  of  a  catechism  admits  of  its  being 
made  more  comprehensive,  and  more  easily  understood  by  children, 
than  any  of  the  small  geographies,  which  have  heretofore  been  designed 
for  them.  It  will  enable  them  usefully  to  improve  many  hours  of  their 
early  years,  which,  for  want  of  something  of  this  kind,  are  entirely 
lost." 

Dwight's  geography  is  a  well-printed  volume  of  212 
pages,  bound  in  the  old-fashioned  thin  wood  covers.  It 
is  descriptive  text  exclusively,  containing  neither  maps 
nor  wood-cuts,  and  no  reference  is  made  to  an  atlas. 
It  opens  with  five  pages  of  definitions  relating  to  the 
natural  divisions  of  land  and  water,  to  latitude,  longitude, 
mathematical  geography,  and  forms  of  government. 
The  following  extracts  from  a  general  description  of  New 
England  illustrate  the  manner  of  treatment : 

"  Q.  What  are  the  general  characteristics  of  the  people  of  New 
England  } 

A.  They  are  an  industrious  and  orderly  people,  economical  in  their 
livings,  and  frugal  in  their  expenses.  .  .  .  They  are  plain  and  simple  in 
their  manners,  and,  on  the  whole,  they  form  perhaps  the  most  pleasing 
and  happy  society  in  the  world." 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT-BOOKS 


55 


"  Q.  What  are  their  diversions  ? 

A.  Dancing  is  a  favorite  one  of  both  sexes.  Sleigh-riding  in  winter, 
skating,  playing  ball  (of  which  there  are  several  different  games),  gun- 
ning and  fishing,  are  the  principal  ;  gambling  and  horse-jockeying  are 
practiced  by  none  but  worthless  people,  who  are  despised  by  all  per- 
sons of  respectability  and  considered  as  nuisances  in  society." 

"  Q.  What  is  the  state  of  science  in  New  England  ? 

A.  It  is  greatly  cultivated,  and  more  generally  diffused  among  the 
inhabitants  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Every  town  has  or 
ought  to  have  a  school  in  it,  where  the  children  are  early  taught  read- 
ing, writing,  and  arithmetic." 

Morse's  Geography.  —  Jedidiah  Morse,  D.D.,  the 
father  of  Professor  S.  F.  B.  Morse  who  invented  the  elec- 
tric telegraph,  was  the  author  of  one  of  our  first  school- 
booTcs.  The  preface  to  the  first  edition,  dated  New  Haven, 
1789,  is  interesting  reading,  not  only  for  the  light  it  throws 
on  the  state  of  education,  but  for  its  illustration  of  the 
pride  of  American  citizenship  in  the  new-born  republic : 

"  There  is  no  science  better  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  youth,  and 
more  apt  to  cultivate  their  attention,  than  Geography.  An  acquaint- 
ance with  this  science,  more  than  with  any  other,  satisfies  that  perti- 
nent curiosity,  which  is  the  predominating  feature  of  the  youthful  mind. 
It  is  to  be  lamented  that  this  part  of  education  has  been  so  long  neg- 
lected in  America.  Our  young  men,  universally,  have  been  much 
better  acquainted  with  the  geography  of  Europe  and  Asia,  than  with 
that  of  their  own  State  and  country.  The  want  of  suitable  books  has 
been  the  cause,  we  hope  the  sole  cause,  of  this  shameful  defect  in  our 
education.  Until  within  a  few  years,  we  have  seldom  pretended  to 
write,  and  hardly  to  think  for  ourselves.  We  have  humbly  received 
from  Great  Britain  our  laws,  our  manners,  our  books,  and  our  modes 
of  thinking ;  and  our  youth  have  been  educated  rather  as  the  subjects 
of  the  British  king,  than  as  the  citizens  of  a  free  and  independent  na- 
tion. But  the  scene  is  now  changed.  The  revolution  has  been  favor- 
able to  science  in  general ;  particularly  to  that  of  the  geography  6f  our 
own  country.  In  the  following  pages,  the  Author  has  endeavored  to 
bring  this  valuable  branch  of  knowledge  home  to  common  schools 


1 56      HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

and  to  the  cottage  fireside  by  comprising,  in  a  small  and  cheap  vol- 
ume, the  most  entertaining  and  interesting  part  of  his  American  Uni- 
versal Geography." 

In  1 81 2  there  was  published  a  revised  edition,  the  full  title  of  which 
reads  as  follows  :  "  Geography  made  easy  :  being  an  Abridgment  of 
the  American  Universal  Geography.  To  which  are  prefixed  Elements 
of  Geography.  For  the  use  of  Schools  and  Academies  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  By  Jedidiah  Morse,  D.D.,  author  of  the  American 
Universal  Geography,  and  the  American  Gazetteer.  '  There  is  not  a 
son  or  daughter  of  Adam,  but  has  some  concern  both  in  Geography 
and  Astronomy.' — Dr.  Watts.  Illustrated  with  a  Map  of  the  World, 
and  a  Map  of  North  America.     Fifteenth  Edition,  and  third  of  this 

new  abridgment." 

• 

This  well-written  book  of  360  pages  octavo,  opens  with 
20  pages  devoted  to  the  history  of  geography  and  astron- 
omy, and  to  a  full  description  of  the  solar  system,  fol- 
lowed by  20  pages  on  physical  geography.  Then  there 
are  180  pages  given  to  North  America  and  "  Independent 
America,  or  the  United  States."  The  remainder  of  the 
book  treats  of  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  author's  re- 
marks on  the  condition  of  education  in  the  United  States 
(18 10-12)  are  of  special  interest  to  the  student  of  educa 
tional  history,  and  we  quote  as  follows  : 

"  State  of  Literature.  —  There  are  in  the  United  States  (1810)  thirty 
colleges ;  three  or  four  of  them,  however,  exist  only  on  paper  ;  and 
upwards  of  eighty  academies.  A  plan  is  now  forming  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Congress,  for  establishing  a  National  University  at  the  seat 
of  Government." 

Massachusetts.  —  "  In  Boston  there  are  seven  public  schools,  viz.  : 
one  Latin  grammar  school,  three  English  grammar  schools,  and 
three  for  writing  and  arithmetic,  supported  wholly  at  the  expense  of 
the  town  ;  in  these  schools,  the  children  of  every  class  of  citizens  (the 
black  excepted)  freely  associate.  Next  to  these  in  importance,  are  the 
academies,  of  which  there  are  about  20  in  the  State.  In  these  the 
sciences  are  taught,  and  youth  fitted  for  the  university.  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, at  Cambridge,  with  respect  to  its  library,  philosophical  appa- 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     157 

ratus,  and  professorship,  is  the  first  literary  institution  in  the  United 
States." 

Connecticut.  —  "  In  no  part  of  the  world  is  the  education  of  all  ranks 
of  people  more  attended  to  than  in  Connecticut.  Yale  College  was 
established  in  1 701.  The  students  are  divided  into  four  classes.  Their 
number  in  1810  was  255." 

Rhode  Island.  —  "  The  literature  of  this  State  is  confined  principally 
to  the  towns  of  Providence  and  Newport.  No  provision  is  made  by 
law  for  the  establishment  of  town  schools." 

New  York.  — "  Dutch  schools  are  now  discontinued  and  the  lan- 
guage will  probably  soon  cease  to  be  used.  There  are  twelve  or 
fourteen  incorporated  academies  in  the  State,  and  two  col- 
leges. Columbia  College,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  is  in  a  flourishing 
state,  and  has  more  than  100  scholars,  besides  medical  students. 
Union  College,  in  Schenectady,  though  an  infant  institution,  is  deserv- 
edly celebrated.  The  annual  expense  of  board,  tuition,  etc.,  is  less 
than  $100.     New  York  City  contained  in  1810,  93,914  inhabitants." 

Pennsylvania.  — "  There  are  many  private  schools  in  different  parts 
of  the  State  ;  and  to  promote  the  education  of  poor  children,  the  legis- 
lature has  appropriated  a  large  tract  of  land  for  the  establishment  of 
free  schools.  A  seminary  is  established  at  Philadelphia  by  the  name 
of  The  University  of  Pennsylvania.  This  State  contained  in  18 10, 
810,091  inhabitants." 

Virginia.  —  "  There  are  three  colleges,  William  and  Mary,  Hampden- 
Sidney,  and  Washington.  There  are  also  several  academies,  one  at 
Alexandria,  one  at  Norfolk,  one  at  Hanover,  and  others  in  other 
places." 

Modern  Books.  —  During  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  Woodbridge's,  Olney's,  Smith's,  and 
Mitchell's  geographies  came  into  use  at  successive  periods. 
They  were  large  books,  crowded  with  formal  descriptive 
text  and  crammed  with  thousands  of  map  questions  the 
answers  to  which  had  to  be  hunted  out  in  a  large  separate 
"  atlas  "  which  accompanied  them.  At  a  later  period 
there  came  into  use  the  "  three  book  series,"  Primary,  In- 
termediate, and  Grammar  School,  such  as  Cornell's,  Mon- 
teith's,  Guyot's,  and  some  others,  with  text  and  maps  in 


158      HIS  TOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

each  book  of  each  series.  A  marked  innovation  on  the 
old-style  text-books  is  found  in  the  Guyot  series  which 
made  prominent  the  study  of  physical  geography. 

The  three-book  series  having  been  found  too  burden- 
some for  pupils,  the  latest  geographies  consist  of  only 
two  books,  Primary  and  Grammar  School.  The  modern 
psychological  and  pedagogical  method  of  teaching  ge- 
ography, so  far  as  it  is  embodied  in  text-books,  is  to  be 
found  in  Redway  and  Hinman's  Natural  Series  (1898), 
comprising  two  books,  — "  The  Natural  Elementary  Ge- 
ography," and  "  The  Natural  Advanced  Geography,"  — 
both  of  which  will  be  welcomed  by  teachers  that  are  in 
sympathy  with  the  modern  movement  to  simplify  the 
teaching  of  geography  and  bring  it  into  harmony  with  the 
modern  course  in  nature  study. 

EARLY  BOOKS  ON  PEDAGOGICS. 

The  firstLnotable  book  on  common  school  pedagogics 
published  in  New  England  (1829),  was  writtenby  Rev. 
Samuel  R.  Hall,  and  was  entitledJ^Lectures  on  School^ 
Keepings"  The  author  had  taught  in  "district  schools 
when  he  was  studying  for  the  ministry ;  he  had  also 
organized  the  first  private  normal  school  in  New  Eng- 
land, consequently  he  knew  something  about  his  subject. 
This  unpretentious  little  volume,  being  a  practical  book, 
went  at  once  into  extensive  use  in  New  England  and 
New  York. 

A  few  years  later  there  appeared  several  small  treatises 
such  as,  "  The  Teacher,"  by  Jacob  Abbott ;  "  Suggestions 
on  Education,"  by  Catherine  E.  Beecher ;  "  The  Teacher 
Taught,"  by  Emerson  Davis ;  and  *'  The  Teacher's 
Manual,"  by  Thomas  H.  Palmer. 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT-BOOKS      159 

"  The  School  and  the  Schoolmaster  "  was  a  pedagogical 
volume  of  552  pages  pubHshed  by  Harper  and  Brothers, 
1842.  Part  I.,  '*  The  School,"  by  Professor  Alonzo  Potter, 
of  Union  College,  N.  Y.,  treated  of  general  education, 
the  existing  condition  of  common  schools  and  the  means 
of  improving  them  ;  of  the  duties  of  parents,  trustees  and 
inspectors;  and  of  the  need  of  a  state  normal  school. 
It  was  ably  written  and  is  still  of  interest  to  the  educa- 
tional student.  Part  II.,  "  The  Schoolmaster,"  by  George 
B.  Emerson,  of  Boston,  President  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Instruction,  treated  of  "  the  proper  character, 
studies,  and  duties  of  the  teacher,  with  the  best  methods 
for  the  government  and  instruction  of  common  schools." 
George  B.  Emerson,  was  one  of  the  foremost  practical 
teachers  in  New  England,  and  his  part  of  the  book  is  so 
pervaded  by  common-sense,  it  is  delightful  reading  even 
now.  His  suggestions  on  oral  instruction  and  the  use  of 
text-books,  on  the  correlation  of  geography  and  history, 
on  composition  and  grammar,  and  on  studies  in  natural 
science,  all  are  in  accord  with  modern  ideas.  Through 
the  liberality  of  some  friend  of  common  schools  whose 
name  was  withheld,  a  copy  of  this  book  was  placed  in 
every  school  district  in  the  state  of  New  York. 

This  book  constituted  my  entire  pedagogical  outfit 
when  teaching  my  first  district  school. 

"■  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching"  (1847),  t>y  David 
P.  Page,  was  an  inspiring  book  which  went  at  once  into 
general  use  in  normal  schools  and  academies. 

Wickersham's  "  Methods  of  Instruction  "  (1865),  was  a 
valuable  educational  contribution  by  one  of  the  leading 
educators  in  Pennsylvania.  About  this  time  Henry 
Barnard  published  '*  Russell's  Normal  Training."  Pro- 
fessor William  Russell,  graduate  of  Glasgow  University, 


l6o       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

and  author  of  numerous  school  readers  and  books  on 
elocution,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  organizing  private 
normal  schools   in  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts, 
and  also   one  of  the   active   promoters   of   state  normal 
schools.     He  was  a  prominent  leader  in  the  educational 
life  of  New  England,  as  a  lecturer  at  Teachers'  Institutes,  \ 
and  as  a  teacher  of  elocution,  during  and  after  the  great  \ 
revival  inaugurated  by  Horace  Mann.     His  rich  scholar- 
ship,   his   unselfish    devotion,    and    his   noble   character  | 
greatly  endeared  him  to  his  pupils.  I 

BOOKS   FOR   CHILDREN.  \ 

\ 

The  first_century  of  colonial  life  was  a  dismal  period  ; 

for  children's  books.     Juvenile  literature  was  limited  to  ^ 
spelling  book,  primer  or  catechism,  and  the  Bible.     The 

grown-up  people  on  the  isolated  farms  fared  little  better ;  ; 

for  books  oL  any  kind  were  costly  and  scarce.     The  col-  j 
lege-bred  clergyman  had  a  small  library  limited  to  college 

class  books  and  a  few  volumes  of  ponderous  theology.  i 

The  one  indispensable  book  in  every  family,  next  to  \ 

the    Bible   and   the   church    catechism,  was   the    annual  \ 

"  almanack,"  which  hung  suspended  by  a  string  near  the  ; 

great  open  fireplace.     One  of  the  earliest  publications  of  ] 

the   solitary  printing  press  in  New  England  (1639)  was  j 

Pierce's  "  Almanack,  calculated  for  New  England."     In  ' 

addition  to  the  calendar  of  time,  these  early  almanacs  .  ; 

were   filled   up  with   weather  predictions,   old   saws  and  ' 

maxims,  and  bits  of  theological  aphorisms.     They  were  j 

well  thumbed  by  all  members  of  the  family.     At  a  later  { 

period,   Benjamin's    Franklin's     almanac,    known    under  j 
the   name   of    "  Poor    Richard's  Almanack,"    circulated 

everywhere  in  all  the  colonies.     It  had  a  spice  of  humor,  ^ 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL   TEXT- BOOKS     i6i 

and  was  full  of  wise  maxims  and  prudent  aphorisms 
about  diligence  and  economy,  sometimes  put  into  rhyme. 
There  were  things  that  stuck  like  burs  in  the  memory  of 
young  and  old  alike.  They  exerted  a  marked  effect  upon 
the  American  people,  and  they  still  hold  a  place  in  liter- 
ature. 

Bunyan's  "  Pi Igrjrn^  Progress  "  was  reprinted  in  Boston 
(1681),  and  was  eagerly  read  by  the  few  children  that  could 
get  hold  of  it.  About  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  a  few  books  designed  by  theologians  for  the  good 
of  children,  drifted  over  from  England,  such  as,  "Godly 
Children  Their  Parents'  Joy,"  "  Young  People  Warned," 
and  Janeway's  ''  Token  for  Children." 

Cotton  Mather  tried  his  hand  in  making  juvenile  litera- 
ture, and  wrote  a  short  booklet  entitled,  "  Good  Lessons 
for  Children  in  Verse." ^  Mather's  "Token  for  the  Chil- 
dren of  New  England,"  was  a  reprint  of  an  English  book, 
with  a  supplement  by  Cotton  Mather  containing,  "  Exam- 
ples of  children  in  whom  the  fear  of  God  was  remarkably 
budding  before  they  died."  From  such  melancholy  leaf- 
lets, even  the  New  England  Primer  was  a  pleasant  relief 
for  children. 

Then  came  "  Robinson  Crusoe  "  (1714),  which  ^^ttll  rank<^ 
ag  one  of  the  most  enchanting  of  all  books  for  growing 
boys.  Next  came  "  Gulliver^sJLravfils  "  and  "  Th£_Vicar 
of  Wakefield,"  and  near  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 

several  real  books  for  little  children,  such  as  "  £oody-TwjQ 

^pes,"  "Tom  Thumb,"  and  "  Mother  Goose  Mejodies," 
all  of  which  were  originally  published  in  England  by 
John  Newberry,  the  notable  London  printer. 

During  the  Colonial  period  there  were  few  newspapers, 

1  See  Neiu  England  Magazine,  April  1899.  Article  by  Charles 
Welsh. 

AM.   PUB.    SCH. II 


1 62       HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

and  those  had  a  limited  circulation.  *'  In  1775,"  says 
McMaster, "  there  were  in  the  entire  country,  thirty-seven 
papers  in  circulation.  Fourteen  of  them  were  in  New 
England,  four  were  in  New  York,  and  nine  in  Pennsylva- 
nia. In  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  there  were  two 
each,  in  Georgia  one,  in  South  Carolina  three."  Most  of 
these  papers  were  weeklies.  They  were  carefully  pre- 
served and  passed  from  neighbor  to  neighbor. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  two  popular  novels 
were  **The  Scottish  Chiefs,"  and  *'  Thaddeus  of  Warsaw." 
Twenty  years  later,  Pope's  "  Essay  on  Man,"  Young's 
"  Night  Thoughts,"  and  Thomson's  ''  Seasons,"  were 
read  and  studied  as  literature,  in  common  schools  and 
academies.  Watts  on  the  "  Improvement  of  the  Mind," 
was  a  text-book  on  intellectual  philosophy. 

My  own  personal  knowledge  of  books' for  children  in 
New  England  began  about  the  year  1837.  ^7  ^^st 
library  at  that  time  consisted  of  Webster's  Speller,  a 
progressive  reader,  four  bound  volumes  of  "  Peter  Parley's 
Magazine,"  and  a  book  of  '*  Stories  About  Indian  Fights." 
When  a  little  older,  I  read  and  re-read  two  bound  volumes 
of  "  The  Penny  Illustrated  Magazine,"  from  which  I 
gained  a  pretty  good  knowledge  of  all  the  famous  naval 
victories  of  the  Americans  over  the  British  in  the  war  of 
1812.  Then  I  plunged  into  '' Josephus,"  and  "  Rollin's 
Ancient  History."  In  my  grandfather's  library  I  discov- 
ered a  large  bundle  of  old  "  Almanacks,"  which  proved 
a  source  of  endless  delight.  My  father  was  reading 
Combe's  "  Constitution  of  Man,"  and  I  read  it  too, 
though  it  was  then  held  to  be  a  dangerous  book.  Next  I 
found  among  my  father's  books  Pope's  "  Essay  on  Man," 
Pope's  '*  Translation  of  the  Iliad,"  Young's  "  Night 
Thoughts,"  Thomson's  "  Seasons,"  Pike's  Arithmetic,  and 


STUDIES  ON  COMMON-SCHOOL  TEXT-BOOKS     163 

Murray's  Grammar,  all  of  which  became  of  more  or  less 
interest.  Stowed  away  on  a  dusty  shelf  in  the  garret, 
I  discovered  "  Peter  Wilkins,"  ''  Gulliver's  Travels,"  "  His- 
tory of  the  Pirates,"  and  several  other  thrilling  books. 

The  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  brought  with  it 
a  juvenile  literature  of  great  variety  from  the  pens  of 
Hawthorne,  Miss  Alcott,  Longfellow,  Whittier,  and  a 
score  of  others  ;  and  this  has  been  enriched  by  Grimm, 
Hans  Andersen,  Charles  Dickens,  and  recent  writers  too 
numerous  to  mention. 


CHAPTER  VII 
EDUCATIONAL  OUTLOOK  FOR  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

School  Enrollment.  —  On  the  latest  school  celebration 
of  Washington's  birthday,  the  national  flag  was  unfurled 
upon  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  schoolhouses, 
stretching  from  ocean  to  ocean.  Our  national  songs,  sung 
at  the  opening  of  the  schools  in  New  England,  were 
caught  up,  hour  after  hour,  with  the  course  of  the  sun. 
It  was  high  noon  in  the  schools  of  Boston  before  the 
children  in  San  Francisco  had  sung  '*  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner,"  in  their  opening  exercises.  Before  the  waves  of 
light,  and  color,  and  song  had  reached  the  school  outposts 
in  Alaska,  the  symbols  of  liberty  and  law  along  the  Atlan- 
tic had  been  furled,  and  the  schools  dismissed.  During 
this  day,  more  than  fourteen  millions  of  public  school 
children  saluted  the  national  flag,  sung  the  national  songs, 
were  instructed  in  American  history,  and  inspired  with 
patriotic  fervor  by  four  hundred  thousand  public  school 
teachers. 

In  all  institutions  of  learning,  public  and  private,  in- 
cluding elementary,  secondary,  and  higher  education,  there 
is  found  to  be  a  total  enrollment  of  16,742,000  pupils  and 
students.  Of  this  vast  number,  about  one  million  and  a 
half  are  enrolled  in  private  educational  institutions,  and 
over  fourteen  and  a  half  millions  in  common  schools  and 
other  public  institutions  of  learning. 

Who  Control  the  Schools  ?  —  Under  a  free  government,  j 
public  schools  j-epresent  th^wants,  spirit,  and  ideals  of  a  N 
"^  164 


OUTLOOK  FOR   THE  TWENTIETH  CEXTURY 


65 


nation.  As  local  self-government  is  a  marked  characteristic 
of  our  civil  institutions,  it  follows  that  local  control  by  dis- 
trict, town,  city,  or  county,  under  general  state  law,  should 
be  a  distinctive  feature  of  our  public  schools.  Unlike  Euro- 
pean nations,  we  have  no  centralized  national  system  of 
education.  We  have  a  multiplicity  of  state  school  laws, 
hundreds  of  special  provisions  in  city  charters,  hundreds 
of  differently  constituted  city  boards  of  education,  thou- 
sands of  town  or  county  school  ofificers,  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  district  school  trustees.  Under  such  decentral- 
ized control,  exact  uniformity  of  school  management  is 
impracticable  and  undesirable.  In  the  words  of  Dr.  A.  D. 
Mayo,  '*  the  American  common  school  is  only  the  Ameri- 
can people  keeping  school." 

If  we  sometimes  become  impatient  of  the  slow  evolu- 
tion of  public  schools,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  are 
improved  mainly  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  communi- 
ties  in  which  they  are  organized.  They  are  under  the 
gleLl  eonliol  of~the  people,  and  are  vitalized  by  the  in- 
dustrial,  political,  and  educational  advancement  of  society. 

In  the  beginning  the  early  colonial  schools,  modeled  after 
European  ideals,  were  partly  under  denominational  con- 
trol, partly  under  the  civil  power;  they  were  chiefly  sup- 
ported by  tuition  fees,  but  were  sometimes  maintained 
entirely  by  taxation.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  the 
people,  these  primitive  schools  have  been  developed  into 
a  system  of  free  public  education  rising  in  successive 
stages  from  the  kindergarten,  through  the  .primary  and 
the  grammar  grades  ;  through  the  high,  the  normal,  and  the 
polytechnic  school ;  through  the  colleges  of  agriculture 
and  the  mechanic  arts  ;  culminating  in  the  free  state  uni- 
versity. 

The  following  axiomatic  principles  have  become  estab- 


1 66       HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

lished  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  are  now  generally 
accepted  and  acted  upon  by  state  governments  :  First, 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  a  republican  government,  as  an  act 
of  self-preservation,  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system  of ' 
free  public  schools  under  the  exclusive  control  of  the  civil 
power.  Second,  that  the  property  of  the  state  shall  be 
taxed  to  educate  the  children  of  the  state. 

Simple  propositions  these  seem  to  us  now,  but  it  has 
required  two  and  a  half  centuries  of  experiment  and  strug- 
gle, and  two  great  wars, — the  Revolutionary  war,  and  the 
Civil  war, — to  bring  them  into  full  recognition  throughout  ,, 
all  the  land.  The  public-school  system  is  now  firmly  in- 
trenched in  the  revise^Zconstifutions  of  each  and  every 
state  in  the  Union,  is  regulated  by  state  legislative  enact-, 
ment.  is  supported,  incidentally,  by  the  interest  on  in- 
vested  school  ^nds,  but  rnainly  by  direcFstate,  county, 
citv^_district.  and  town  taxation.  In  the  older  states, 
which  have  become  thickly  settled,  the  school  system  is 
developed  in  full.  In  new  and  sparsely  settled  states,  if 
schools  are  still  crude,  and  are  yet  in  process  of  formation, 
their  condition  is  a  necessity  of  pioneer  life. 

Educational  Progress.  —  The  true  economy  of  school 
management  consists  in  the  employment  of  professionally 
trained  teachers.  While  it  cannot  be  claimed,  as  yet,  that 
we  have  reached  the  standard  of  fully  recognizing  teach- 
ing as  a  profession,  we  are  steadily  approximating  this 
high  ideal.  The  demand  for  professionally  educated 
teachers  is  steadily  growing,  and  the  number  of  state  and 
city  normal  schools  increases  year  by  year.  Teachers' 
institutes  and  "  summer  schools "  are  everywhere  estab- 
lished. State  associations  of  teachers  are  increasing  in 
number  and  strength.  The  National  Educational  Asso- 
ciation is  an  acknowledged  power.     Educational  journals 


>  J 


OUTLOOK  FOR   THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY       167 

are  infusing  a  progressive  spirit  into  the  great  body  of 
teachers.  Magazines  are  presenting  to  the  people  the  best 
educational  thought  of  the  country.  Newspapers  are 
spreading  information  on  educational  matters.  The  com- 
paratively recent  establishment  of  departments  of  peda- 
gogics in  state  universities  and  other  institutions  of  learn- 
ing, is  due  to  a  recognition  of  the  need  of  special  prepara- 
tion for  teachers  in  high  schools  and  colleges,  as  well  as 
for  teachers  in  the  elementary  schools. 

Imperfections  in  the  School  System.  —  No  thoughtful 
educator  will  claim  that  our  school  system  is  free  from 
Refects.  The  annual  re-election  or  re-appointment  of 
teachers  still  stands  as  a  legal  barrier  against  teaching  as 
a  profession.  The  provisions  in  state  school  laws  and 
city  ordinances,  limiting  the  teachers'  tenure  of  office  to 
dne  year,  are  survivals  of  the  age  of  primitive  schools, 
when  a  schoolmaster  was  engaged  to  teach  during  the 
winter  term  of  three  months,  and  a  school-mistress  was 
employed  during  the  summer  term.  A  short  term  of  ap- 
pointment was  then  a  necessity.  In  early  days,  the  terms 
of  most  civil  offices  were  limited  to  one  year ;  but  there 
is  now  a  general  tendency  to  lengthen  them,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  this  reform  will  soon  reach  the  school  de- 
partments of  cities  and  towns.  There  are  already  a  few 
cities  in  which,  by  ordinance,  the  tenure  of  a  teacher's 
position  holds  during  good  behavior.  But  in  many  of 
the  large  cities  in  which  boards  of  education  are  elected 
by  direct  popular  vote,  the  power  of  political  bosses  and 
ward  politicians  to  order  the  appointment  or  dismissal  of 
teachers,  is  a  menace,  not  only  to  teachers,  but  to  public 
school  systems  of  great  cities. 

Another  serious  defect  is  the  over-crowded  condition  of 
schools  in  cities  of  rapid  growth,  where  from  fifty  to  sixty 


1 68       HISTOR  V  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

pupils,  and  sometimes  even  more,  are  forced  upon  each 
teacher  in  a  classroom.  Under  such  circumstances,  pupils 
may  learn  to  read  and  write  and  cipher,  but  even  the  best 
of  teachers  cannot  train  them  in  accordance  with  modern 
pedagogical  methods. 

Notwithstanding  some  weak  points,  however,  our  free- 
school  system  is  broader  and  better  than  any  other  ever 
Oman i7jpd   ^'^^  ^he    hiVstor3^j2)f_1jhe[Tm^  The  kind 

and  quality  of  instruction  will  be  changed  to  meet  new 
conditions,  but  there  is  no  danger  that  the  extent  of  educa- 
tion will  be  curtailed.  When  times  are  hard  or  taxes  high, 
the  schools,  like  other  departments  of  government,  are 
subjected  to  a  running  fire  of  criticism  all  along  the  line  ; 
but  only  timid  and  despairing  souls  will  be  frightened  into 
the  belief  that  the  foundations  of  society  are  breaking  up 
on  account  of  over  education.  No  prophets  of  evil  can 
convince  the  American  people  that  vice,  crime,  idleness, 
poverty,  and  social  discontent  are  the  results  of  free  public 
schools.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  an  abiding  conviction 
that  it  is  only  by  means  of  general  education  brought 
within  the  reach  of  all  classes  that  a  people  can  permanently 
maintain  free  institutions.  The  idea  of  universal  educa- 
tion  has  fairly  entered  into  the  minds  of  men. 

TrueTconomy.  —  Liberality  in  taxation  for  public 
schools  is  believed  to  be  enlightened  economy  for  the  state. 
T^^hat  migKt  be  extravagance  in  The  individual  is  a^  wise 
expenditure  by  thenation.  This  generation  is  not  living 
jorjtself  alone,,^ut  for  future  generations^ and  the  glory  of 
the  republic.  Complaints  about  school  taxation  have 
been  heard  ever  since  the  first  town  tax  was  levied  in  New 
England  or  New  York.  There  are  always  some  taxpayers 
who  seem  to  consider  that  the  chief  end  of  man  is  to 
escape  taxation.     But  public  schools  are  worth  far  more 


OUTLOOK  FOR  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY    169 

than  they  cost ;  for  they  make_ijitel1igent  ihe  great  mass 
of  electors  whose  will,  expressed  by  the  ballot,  makes  or 
^inmakes  cgnstTtutiohs,  jn3  enacts  laws  that  make  or  mar 


tHe^ommon  weal.  ~ 

The  better  the  schools  are  made,  the  more  costly  they 
become.  The  era  of  liberal  appropriations  for  common 
schools,  public  colleges,  and  free  state  universities,  is 
only  beginning  ;  for  a  modern  scientific  and  literary  educa- 
tion, however  costly  it  may  be,  is  a  good  permanent  in- 
vestment. Now  that  a  free  education  from  kindergarten 
to  university  has  been  brought  within  the  possible  reach 
of  all  classes,  we  need  not  fear  that  intelligent  electors 
will  surrender  the  power  of  voting  all  the  money  needed 
for  maintaining  the  American  system  of  free  public  educa- 
\Jion. 

The  Outlook.  —  As  the  nineteenth  century  draws  to  a 
close,  the  educational  outlook  is  full  of  promise.  The 
common  schools,  with  an  enlarged  and  an  enriched  course 
of  study,  fairly  meet  the  needs  of  the  common  pursuits  of 
life  ;  state  normal  schools  are  everywhere  training  teachers 
for  their  work  ;  the  secondary  schools  are  extending  the 
culture  of  the  elementary  schools  and  are  fitting  students 
for  college  ;  while  the  free  state  universities  and  colleges 
of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  constitute  the  crown- 
ing glory  of  the  system.  Freed  from  the  scholastic  tram- 
mels of  the  ancient  curriculum,  these  new  universities  and 
colleges  are  training  skilled  specialists  in  agriculture,  the 
mechanic  arts,  and  other  industrial,  commercial,  scientific, 
and  educational  pursuits,  but  in  nowise  neglecting  classical 
courses  and  the  professions  of  law  and  medicine.  They 
are  reacting  powerfully  on  high  schools,  normal  schools, 
and  common  schools,  raising  the  standard  of  all,  and  bring- 
ing the  entire  system  into  harmony. 


I/O 


HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


The  corner  stones  of  our  public-school  system  have 
been  securely  laid  and  they  will  long  endure.  When  we 
consider  how  the  common  schools  have  reached  every 
state,  city,  village,  hamlet,  and  rural  district  in  our  country, 
how  they  have  molded  successive  generations  into  Ameri- 
can citizens  who  have  met  the  demands  of  every  crisis  in 
our  national  affairs,  we  pay  little  heed  to  the  lamentations 
of  pessimists.  We  exult,  rather,  that  we  have  lived  to 
behold  the  glory  and  grandeur  of  our  reunited  country, 
and  rejoice  that  our  lot  is  cast  among  a  people  whose  faith 
grows  firmer  and  stronger  in  republican  institutions,  free 
labor,  free  schools,  free  speech,  and  a  free  press.  The 
words  of  the  prophet-poet  Whittier  have  become  true : 

"  The  mighty  West  shall  bless  the  East,  and  sea  shall  answer  sea, 
And  mountain  unto  mountain  call :  Praise  God  for  we  are  free." 

On  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth  century,  as  the  con- 
solidated republic  is  entering  on  a  new  era  of  prosperity 
and  power,  let  us,  each  and  all,  do  our  utmost  to  hold  our 
public  schools  up  to  their  highest  degree  of  efficiency,  so 
that  they  may  meet  all  future  needs  of  the  new  nation. 
If  our  public  schools  are  kept  vitalized  by  enlightened 
common  sense,  patriotism,  and  righteousness,  universal 
suffrage  will  not  prove  a  failure,  and  universal  education 
will  prove  the  safeguard  of  the  republic. 

REFERENCES  FOR   SPECIAL   STUDIES   IN  THE  HISTORY  OF 
PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

Boone's  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States. 
George  H.  Martin's  Evolution  of  the  Massachusetts  Pub- 
lic-School System. 
Wickersham's  History  of  Education  in  Pennsylvania. 
Randall's  History  of  the  Public  Schools  of  New  York. 


OUTLOOK  FOR  THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY 


71 


Barnard's  American  Journal  of  Education. 
Kiddle  and  Schem's  Cyclopedia  of  Education. 
McMaster's  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States. 
Motley's  Dutch  Republic. 

Campbell's  The  Puritan  in  Holland,  England,  and  America. 
Reports   of   the    United    States    Commissioner   of   Edu- 
cation : — 
A  series  of  Historical  Sketches  by  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo  : 
(a)  Public  Schools  during  the  Colonial  Period,  Report 

for  1893-94,  Vol.  I. 
{p)  Education  in  the  Northwest,  Report  foci 894-95, 

Vol.  2. 
{c)  Common  Schools  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 

Pennsylvania,  Report  for  1895-96,  Vol.  i. 
{d)  Common  Schools  in  the  Southern  States,  Report 

for  1895-96,  Vol.  I. 
{e)  Horace  Mann  and  the  Great  Revival  of  the  Ameri- 
can Common  School,  1830-50,  Report  of   1896- 
97,  Vol.  I. 


PART  II 

APPLIED     PEDAGOGICS     IN     AMERICAN     PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 


CHAPTER  I   . 
MANAGEMENT  IN  SCHOOL  GOVERNMENT 

The  foundation  of  a  school,  as_of  sodety^_ls_Jaw  _and- 
order.  Teachers  must  possess  the  power  of  enforcing 
such  regulations  as  are  essential  to  the  existence  of  the 
school  as  a  social  organization.  In  school  government 
much  depends  on  making  pupils  feel  that  rules  and  reg-_ 
ulations  are  intended  for  their  own^ood,  not  that  they 
"■^re'made^by  the" teacher  for  his  own  pleasure  in~exercis- 
ing  arbitrary  power.  Most  pupils  really  prefer  order 
to  disorder,  firmness  to  weakness,  law  to  lawlessness. 
Hence  calisthenics  and  military  precision  in  marching  are 
efficient  aids  in  securing  prompt  obedience  to  commands. 
One  object  of  discipline  is^o  secure  a  sufficient  degree  of 
order,  quietness,  and  regularity  to  enahlejinpils  to  pnrsnp^ 
their  studies^and  redte^Jji^uilessons  without  interruption  ; 
butTEe  higher  aim  is  to  train  the  will,  and  incite_^^ils 
to  put  forth  vigorousefforts  for  self-control.  But  upon 
untrained  children  whose  impulses  are  strong  and  whose 
habits  of  self-control  are  weak,  the  hand  of  power  must 
be  laid,  to  remind  them  of  duty  and  compel  them  to  do 
it. 

173 


174 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


Firmness.  —  The  power  to  govern  well  is  an  essential 
quality  of  every  successful  teacher.  V/hen  a  new  teacher 
takes  charge  of  a  school  or  a  class,  there  is  always  a  trial 
of  strength  between  the  ruler  and  the  ruled ;  and  woe 
be  to  that  man  or  woman  who  falls  a  weak  prey  to  young 
and  merciless  school  tyrants.  At  present,  in  school  as  in ', 
state,  judicious  severity  is,  in  the  end,  the  truest  kindness.  , 
Fear  of  punishment  is  the  only  check  to  the  lawlessness 
of  some  children  as  well  as  of  some  men.  The  penalties 
of  crime  awarded  by  the  law  of  the  state,  are  designed; 
not  for  the  average  law-abiding  ^tizen,  but  for  the  ex- 
ceptional offender ;  and  punishment  in  scjiool  is  held  as  a 
terror  only  over  the  exceptional  pupil.  When  alTcBlId^ren 
are  "well  governed  at  home,  when  all  teachers  are  profes- 
sionally trained,  when  all  parents  are  reasonable,  when 
hereditary  tendencies  are  in  harmony  with  existing  social 
conditions,  all  kinds  of  penalties  in  school  may  safely  be 
abolished.  ^ 

But  one  of  the  main  objects  of  the  teacher  should  be' 
to  lead  pupils  to  do  right  from  a  sense  of  duty  and 
self-respect  rather  than  from  fear  of  punishment.  As  the 
school  is  a  small  social  community,  its  members  should 
be  so  trained  in  their  duties  to  one  another  that  they  will 
learn  to  respect  the  rights  of  others. 

School  Opinion.  —  The  public  opinion  of  the  school  is 
an  important_element  in  discipline,  and  the  teacher  with 
tact  will  direct  this  power  to  the  side  of  order  and  right- 
doing.  Many  a  boy  is  influenced  by  the  opinions  of 
his  fellows  more  than  by  the  decisions  of  his  teachers. 
Few  pupils  can  resist  when  they  find  themselves  con- 
demned by  the  common  voice  of  their  companions,  whose 
censure  they  dread  more  than  that  of  their  superiors. 
A  wise  teacher  can  win  to  his  side  the  active,  energetic, 


AfANA GEMENT  IN  SCHO OL  GO  VERNMENT      1 75 

leadLng^pupils  by  puttiiig:tJieiiLiiitQ43laces  of  honor,  trust, 
or  duty ;  and,  having  done  this,  it  is  easy  to  secure  their 
co-operation  in  establishing  a  wholeson[ie^nd_restraining 
school  infliieiiee,    - 

^"^stinate  Children.  —  It  is  not  good  policy  to  drive 
strong-willed  children  into  obstinacy.  Respect  the  per- 
sonality  and  individuality  of  every  pupil._  Indeed,  make 
every  effort  to  develop  positive  force  of  character.  The 
more  will  of  the  right  kind  in  a  child  the  better.  By  a 
little  patience  and  forbearance,  you  may  bring  to  bear  on 
the  self-willed  child  the  influence  of  kindness,  sympathy, 
or  reason.  Set  your  own  tact  againsrilie~dull,  brutish 
obstinacy  of  the  pupil.  A  forced  submission  often  ends 
in  sullen  doggedness  or  a  smoldering  fire  of  rebellion. 
The  child  must  learn  obedience  ;  that  is  the  first  and 
greatest  of  lessons,  but  with  some  impulsive  children  real 
affection  for  the  teacher  will  often  secure  obedience  when 
nothing  else  will  avail. 

Penalties.  —  In  order  to  enforce  good  government  in 
schools,  there  must  be  penalties  for  violations  of  rules^ 
These  penalties  may  be  re£nmanHs7lcHeclcs7Toss_of  privi- 
leges,  detention,  suspension,  or  possibly  in  extreme  cases, 
cofporal  punishment.  T'enalties  must  be  certain,  and 
must  appeaT  js^tlie  natural  consequence  of  wrqng_acts. 
The  child  should  know  what  he  has  to  expect,  and  when 
to  expect  it.  The  child  soon  learns  to  yield  to  the  in- 
evitable. It  is  the  certainty,  not  the  severitj^,  of  punish- 
ment that  deters~pupils  from  violating2iig"l^iQ^s.  But 
rns"lioFwise  to  make  cast-iron  rules  with  unchangeable 
penalties.  If  you  fail  to  enforce  fixed  penalties,  you  lose 
the  respect  of  your  pupils ;  and  if  you  do  enforce  them, 
you  may  often  be  guilty  of  injustice.  Give  your  verdict 
and  pass  sentence  after  the  conviction  of  the  offender. 


1^6  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

President  Eliot,  in  tlie  **  Unity  of  Educational  Reform,"  ^  remarks  : 
"  Down  to  times  quite  within  my  memor}%  the  method  of  discipline,  both 
in  school  and  college,  was  extremely  simple ;  for  it  relied  chiefly,  first, 
on  a  highly  stimulated  emulation  and  fear  of  penalty.  .  .  It  is  now  an 
accepted  doctrine  that  the  discipline  of  childhood  should  not  be  so  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  adolescence  as  to  cause  at  any  point  of  the  way  a  full 
stop  and  a  fresh  start.  .  .  .  Among  the  permanent  motives  which  act 
all  through  life  are  prudence,  caution,  emulation,  love  of  approbation, 
shame,  pride,  self-respect,  pleasure  in  discovery,  activity,  or  achieve- 
ment, delight  in  beauty,  strength,  grace,  and  grandeur,  and  the  love 
of  power,  and  of  possessions  as  giving  power." 

Liberty.  —  It  is  an  essential  principle  of  school  govern- 
ment that  everv_  pupil  be  allowed  the  largest  liberty 
^possihle_without  infringing  on  the  rights,  interests,  duties, 
or  convenience  of  others.  Hence  the  right  adm inistration 
of  school  affairs  is  not  always  an  easy  task.  It  is  easy 
enough  to  sit  in  judgment  on  the  cases  that  are  pure  black 
or  pure  white,  but  the  gray  cases  are  complex,  requiring 
the  utmost  caution  and  deliberation. 

Trust.  —  Regard  your^upils_aS-truthful  until  you  have 
positive  evidenceto  the  contj;ary.  Children  with  a  high 
sense  of  honor  will  never  forgive  you  for  doubting  their 
word,  or  for  making  an  unjust  accusation.  Trust  your 
pupils  if  you  want  them  to  put  their  trust  in  you. 

Truthfulness.  —  Encourage  truthfulness  by  rewarding 
full  and  frank  confession_with  a  remission  of  penalties, 
so  far  as  is  consistent  with  school  discipline.  Undue 
severity  excites  fear,  and  fear  seeks  an  easy  refuge  in  cun- 
ning and  evasion.  There  is  a  conventional  sense  of  honor 
among  schoolboys  which  binds  them  not  to  inform  the 
teacher  of  the  misdeeds  of  their  fellows.  They  are  un- 
wise teachers  who  take  ground  against  this  school  opin- 
ion, and  endeavor,  by  threats    of  punishment,  to  compel 

1 "  Educational  Reform  "  ( 1 898) . 


MANA CEMENT  IN  SCHO OL  GO  VERNMENT     1 77 

pupils  to  become  informers.  It  is  wisdom  for  teachers  to 
use  tact  in  so  rQ_odifying  the  school  code  as  to  draw  a  lijie 
of  distinction  between  minor  matters  that  belong  to  J^he 
""Tattllhg  order,  and  the  graver  offenses  that  concern  the 
real  welTafeTofTilie  scHooTT  ~ 

Order.  —  It  is  wise  to  make  but  few  rules  and  not  to 
indulge  in  much  talk  about  infringements  of  them.  Put 
yourself  in  the  place  of  your  pupils.  Recall  your  own 
school  experiences,  your  hopes  and  fears,  your  impulses, 
your  notions,  and  the  motives  that  influenced  you. 

Professor  Hinsdale,  in  "  Studies  in  Education,"  says  :  "  Reasonable 
order  in  the  schoolroom,  for  the  most  part,  must  be  secured  indirectly ; 
it  must  come  as  the  result  of  keen  interest  in  the  work,  and  close 
application  to  it.  What  is  sometimes  called  '  good  order '  does  not 
always  imply  either  interest  in  studies  or  a  good  school,  since  it  may 
be  secured  by  extreme  repression  ;  but  interest  and  application  are 
pretty  certain  to  lead  to  good  order.  In  other  words,  order  should  be 
largely  spontaneous.  In  the  long  run,  that  teacher  will  best  succeed 
in  securing  it  who  says  little  about  it.  Even  grown  persons  who  are 
consciously  trying  to  keep  still,  find  it  difficult  to  do  so.  How  hard 
many  find  it  to  sit  for  a  photograph  !  The  boy  whose  business  it  is 
to  be  quiet  is  likely  to  make  a  great  deal  of  noise  while  about  it. 
Moreover,  a  positive  direction  of  order  to  keep  still,  given  to  any 
assemblage,  tends  to  provoke  nervous  and  muscular  movements. 
Great  audiences  are  as  still  as  death,  not  when  the  orator  is  descanting 
on  order  and  stillness,  but  when  he  loses  himself  and  them  in  his 
subject.  Hence  attempts  to  secure  order  should  not  be  thrust  into  the 
faces  of  children." 

Barbarism.  —  It  is  educational  barbarism  to  inflict  per- 
sonal indignities,  such  as  pulling  the  hair,  boxing  the  ears, 
or  slapping  the  face.  Such  brutalities  excite  the  bitterest 
resentment,  and  are  seldom  forgiven. 

Punishment.  —  One  of  the  most  effective  penalties  is  to 
deprive  offenders  of  some  privilege,  or  to  cut  them  off 
fron 


from  the  society  of  schoolmates  at  recess  or  intermission. 

AM.    PUB.    SCH. — 12 


178  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

Secure  order,  if  possible,  without  corporal  punishment ; 
but  secure  obedience  at  all  hazards.  For  in  school,  as  in 
an  army,  discipline  is  essential  to  existence.  Corporal 
punishment  is  now  generally  regarded  only  as  a  final  resort 
when  all  other  means  fail  to  secure  obedience.  In  many 
cities  suspension  has  superseded  corporal  punishment  even 
as  a  final  resort.  It  will  be  well  for  teachers  to  be  guided 
in  some  measure  by  the  public  opinion  of  the  community 
in  which  they  teach. 

Dr.  G.  Stanley  Hall,  the  kindest  and  most  genial  of  re- 
formers, said  in  a  recent  lecture  in  Chicago  (1889):  "I 
believe  in  corporal  punishment  in  the  schools.  It  should 
not  be  carried  to  excess,  but  the  fact  that  an  incorrigible 
boy  knows  that  the  teacher  may  whip  him  is  a  tremendous 
support  to  the  teacher." 


CHAPTER  II 
SUGGESTIONS  ON  CLASS-ROOM  MANAGEMENT 

Cheerfulness. — Cultivate  a  habit  of  cheerfulness  that 
shall  shine  out  from  your  countenance  like  the  light  of 
the  rising  sun.  *'A  teacher  has  only  partially  compre- 
hended the  familiar  powers  of  his  place,"  says  Bishop 
Huntington,  "  who  has  left  out  the  lessons  of  his  own 
countenance.  There  is  a  perpetual  picture  which  his 
pupils  study  as  unconsciously  as  he  exhibits  it.  His 
plans  will  miscarry  if  he  expects  a  genial  and  nourishing 
session  when  he  enters  with  a  face  blacker  than  the 
blackboard." 

Scolding.  —  The  less  you  threaten,  the  less  you  find 
fault,  the  less  you  scold,  the  more  friends  you  will  have 
among  the  boys  and  girls,  and  the  better  will  be  your 
school.  Unless  you  wish  to  be  hated,  beware  of  sarcasm 
and  ridicule.  A  cutting  remark  is  never  forgotten  and 
seldom  forgiven. 

Courtesy.  —  Consent  cordially  and  gracefully,  but  let 
your  refusals  be  firm  and  absolute.  Be  courteous  and 
polite ;  it  is  easier  to  win  children  by  kindness  than  to 
drive  them  by  authority. 

Self-help.  —  Beyond  imparting  a  small  stock  of  specific 
knowledge,  the  chief  work  of  the  teacher  is  to  teach  pupils 
the  ri^htjway  of  findrnf^out  thinp:^  for  the7nselves^  just  as 
little  children  are  taught  to  walk  in  order  that  they  may 
go  alone.  It  is  only  the  poorest  teachers  and  the  un- 
trained ones  that  do  all  the  hard  work  for  their  pupils. 

179 


l8o  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

Agassiz  said  that  the  worst  service  a  teacher  could  render 
to  a  pupil  was  to  give  him  a  ready-made  answer.  The 
best  teachers  are  those  whose  pupils  are  made  daily  more 
and  more  able  to  pursue  their  studies  without  the  aid  of 
teachers. 

Praise.  —  Make  use  of  the  stimulus  of  praise ;  but  use  it 
sparingly,  so  that  it  may  be  of  value  when  bestowed. 
Given  with  good  judgment,  commendation  is  a  powerful 
agency,  but  prizes  and  distinctions  often  produce  the 
worst  effect  in  school.  Generous  emulation  is  good,  but 
the  selfish  pride  of  rivalry  is  bad. 

Manner.  —  In  conducting  a  recitation,  look  your  pupils 
in  the  eye  when  you  question  them,  and  make  them  look 
you  in  the  eye  when  they  answer.  Keep  your  voice  down 
to  the  conversational  key.  A  quiet  voice  is  music  in  the 
schoolroom.  Lighten  up  your  class  with  a  pleasant  coun- 
tenance. The  teacher  who  cannot  occasionally  join  in  a 
hearty  laugh  with  pupils  lacks  one  important  element  of 
power.  Have  something  interesting  to  say  to  your  pupils 
at  every  recitation.  If  you  can  keep  them  interested  you 
will  have  but  little  trouble  about  order.  Keep  them  on 
the  alert  by  being  wide-awake  yourself. 

Question  and  Answer.  —  In  general,  put  questions  to 
the  whole  class,  in  order  to  make  every  pupil  think  out 
the  answer ;  then,  after  a  pause,  call  upon  some  one  pupil 
to  give  it.  Seldom_repeat  a  question.  Train  pupils  to  a 
habit  of  close  attention,  so  that  they  will  understand  what 
you  say  the  first  time  you  say  it.  Give  slow  children 
time  to  think  and  speak.  The  readiest  children  are  not 
always  the  soundest  thinkers.  The  highest  praise  given 
by  an  English  inspector  to  a  teacher  was  "  that  he  allowed 
his  slow  boys  time  to  wriggle  out  an  answer T  It  is  a  bad^ 
habit  for  the  teacher  to  repeat  to  the  class  a  pupil's  half- 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CLASS-ROOM  MANAGEMENT  igi 

audihl£__answer.  Require  every  pupil  to  speak  loud 
enough  to  be  distinctly  understood  by  every  member  of 
the  class.  Do  not  expect  pupils  to  know  as  much  as  you 
do,  neither  consider  them  dull  because  they  fail  to  per- 
ceive things  that  seem  to  you  to  be  simple  and  easy. 
Keep  in  mind  the  aphorism  of  Arnold  Tompkins: 
'*  Teaching  is  the  process  by  which  one  mind,  from  a  set 
purpose,  prodtcces  the  life-unfolding  process  in  another!' 

Explaining. — Explain  when  necessary,  but  make  your 
pupils  do  a  part  of  the  talking.  Your  talk  should  consist 
largely  of  intelligent  questions.  Encourage  pupils  to  ask 
questions,  but  do  not  answer  them  yourself  until  after  you 
have  given  the  class  an  opportunity  to  answer. 

Good  English.  —  Train  pupils  to  recite  in  good  English, 
but  do  not  worry  them  by  interruptions  when  they  are 
speaking.  Make  a  note  of  incorrect  or  inelegant  expres- 
sions and  have  them  corrected  afterwards.     The  correct 


use  of  language  is  a  matter  of  habit  rather  than_a_result_ 
^t  studying  the  rules  of  grammar.  It  will  be  one  of  the 
arduous  duties  of  every  teacher,  whether  in  high  or  low 
grade  classes,  to  correct  inaccuracies  of  speech.  The 
teacher  should  use  plain  and  pure  English,  and  require 
pupils  to  do  the  same.  No  provincialisms,  no  slang,  no 
careless  or  slovenly  pronunciation  should  be  allowed  to 
pass  unnoticed.  Questions  should  be  direct ;  answers 
concise.  But  do  not  expect  children  to  speak  perfect 
English,  and  do  not  become  too  critical  about  their  ex- 
pressions. 

Habits  of  Study.  —  The  text-book  is  designed  as  an  aid 
both  to  pupils  and  teacher  ;  but  the  teacher  should  show 
pupils  how  to  study  their  lessons  by  calling  their  atten- 
tion to  leading  points,  by  vitalizing  printed  words  with 
the  living  voice,  and  by  showing  children  not  only  what 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

to  study,  but,  also,  how  to__study.  It  is  a  good  plan  to 
require  short  intervals  of  study  in  school  hours.  In 
graded  schools  at  least  ten  minutes  of  the  half  hour  al 
lowed  for  recitation  may  often  be  devoted  to  silent  study 
by  pupils.  The  common  practice  of  detaining  pupils 
after  schooM:o  study  imperfectly  recited^  lessons  isjon-^ 
psychological.  It  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  a  tired, 
hungry,  impatient  child  to  do  good  thinking  under  such 
conditions.  "  No  learning,"  says  Socrates,  as  translated 
by  Roger  Ascham,  *'  ought  to  be  learned  with  bondage ; 
for  bodily  labors  wrought  by  compulsion  hurt  not  the 
body ;  but  any  learning  learned  by  compulsion  tarrieth 
not  long  in  the  mind." 

Home  Study.  —  No  lessons  whatever,  except  perhaps 
a  reading  lesson,  should  be  assigned  for  home  study  to 
children  below  the  fourth  grade.  In  general,  only  les- 
sons which  require  mainly  an  exercise  of  memory  should 
be  assigned  for  home  work.  Many  pupils  have  no  con- 
veniences for  writing  at  home,  and  few  have  a  quiet  room 
to  themselves.  The  giving  out  of  long  and  difficult  prob- 
lems in  arithmetic  to  be  worked  at  home  is  an  unmiti- 
gated evil.  The  lessons  most  suitable  for  home  study 
seem  to  be  reading,  geography,  spelling,  grammar,  history, 
"^d  observation  lessonsmnature  study. 

MentaTHabits.^^In  whatever  grades  you  are  teaching 
train  pupils,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  the  habit  of  listening 
attentively  to  what  you  tell  them ;  of  giving  back  to  you, 
in  their  own  words,  the  substance  of  your  instruction ;  of 
observing  carefully  in  nature-study  or  science ;  and  of  re- 
cording correctly.  These  are  important  things  in  all 
grades. 

"  We  must  learn,"  says  President  Eliot  in  "  Educational  Reform  " 
"  to  see  straight  and  clea^r ;  to  compare  and  infer ;  to  make  an  accurate 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CLASS-ROOM  MANAGEMENT  183 

record  ;  to  remember ;  to  express  our  thought  with  precision  ;  and  to 
hold  fast  lofty  ideals.  .  .  .  The  child  of  five  years  should  begin  to  think 
clearly  and  justly,  and  he  should  begin  to  know  what  love  and  duty 
mean  ;  and  the  mature  man  of  twenty-five  should  still  be  training  his 
powers  of  observing,  comparing,  recording,  and  expressing.  The  aims 
and  the  fundamental  methods  at  all  stages  of  education  should,  there- 
fore, be  essentially  the  same,  because  the  essential  constituents  of 
education  are  the  same  at  all  stages.  The  grammar-school  pupil  is  try- 
ing to  do  the  same  kinds  of  things  which  the  high-school  pupil  is  trying 
to  do,  though,  of  course,  with  less  developed  powers.  The  high-school 
pupil  has  the  same  intellectual  needs  which  the  university  student 
feels.  From  first  to  last,  it  is  the  teacher's  most  important  function  to 
make  the  pupil  think  accurately  and  express  his  thoughts  with  preci- 
sion and  force ;  and  in  this  respect  the  function  of  the  primary-school 
teacher  is  not  different  in  essence  from  that  of  the  teacher  of  law 
medicine,  theology,  or  engineering." 

Reviews.  —  Frequent  reviews  are  essential  to  good 
training.  However  well  anything  is  learned  for  the  time 
being,  it  will  pass  into  oblivion  if  not  called  up  again  and 
again.  Repetition  is  absolutely  essential  to  habit,  skill, 
readiness,  thoroughness,  and  accuracy.  But  reviews 
should  not,  in  general,  consist  in  the  assignment  of  five  or 
ten  pages  of  the  text-book  for  home  study. 

"  The  best  form  of  review,"  says  McMurry,^  "  is  that  which  springs 
out  ofcomparisons,  which  finds  in  the  new  lessons  amplifications  of  old 
principles,  which  makes  every  lesson_a_review_of_old  knowledge  iri^ 
thelight  of  new  experience.  Incidental  reviews  and  comparisons,  by 
which  every  new  topic  is  incorporated  into  the  body  of  our  previous 
experiences  are  the  rational  form  of  study.  It  is  constantly  making 
over,  modifying,  and  expanding  the  old  thought  material.  The  stated 
periodical  review  presupposes  a  static  condition  in  knowledge ;  such 
knowledge,  when  finally  salted  down,  partakes  of  the  nature  of  a  petri- 
faction and  lacks  that  fluidity  and  pervasiveness  which  make  it  pene- 
trate and  permeate  every  nook  and  avenue  of  experience." 

Child  Study.  — Above  all  make  a  careful  study  of  your 
I  McMurry's  "  Method  of  the  Recitation  "  (1897). 


1 84  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

pupils,  of  their  personal  characteristics,  of  their  varied  de- 
grees of  capacity,  so  that  you  can  treat  them  fairly  and 
intelligently.  The  best  psychological  methods  of  teaching 
are  found  out  by  careful  study  of  the  spontaneous  activi-J 
ties  and  natural  tendencies  of  children.  "  I  cannot  but 
think,"  says  William  James,  '*  that  to  apperceive  your 
pupil  as  a  little  sensitive,  impulsive,  associative,  and  reac- 
tive organism,  partly  fated  and  partly  free,  will  lead  to  a 
better  intelligence  of  all  his  ways." 

Professor  Earl  Barnes  closes  an  able  paper  on  "  Methods  of  Study- 
ing Children  "  with  the  following  summary  :  "  Undoubtedly,  the  best 
student  of  the  natural  history  of  child-life  is  he  who  uses  all  methods 
in  due  proportion.  If  a  man  goes  about  his  daily  work  with  his  eyes 
and  his  heart  open  ;  if  he  lives  over  his  own  childhood's  life,  with  an 
honest  desire  to  see  what  kind  of  a  child  he  was,  and  what  kind  of  a 
man  he  is,  quickening  his  memory  with  childish  records  and  autobi- 
ography ;  if  he  studies  children  under  carefully  arranged  conditions, 
bringing  the  same  fair-mindedness  and  persistence  to  his  work  that 
the  scientist  brings  to  his  laboratory ;  and  if  he  brings  all  thes'e 
scattered  studies  into  their  due  relations,  by  setting  them  in  a  back- 
ground of  general  law,  based  on  large  quantitative  studies,  he  will 
accomplish  all  that  he  can  reasonably  hope  for  in  these  days  of  begin- 
nings." 

New  Methods.  —  Stand  ready  to  give  a  fair  considera- 
tion to  new  methods  in  teaching,  even  if  they  differ  from 
your  preconceived  ideas.  "The  only  way  in  which  a 
human  being  can  make  some  approach  to  knowing  the 
whole  of  a  subject,"  says  John  Stuart  Mill,  "  is  by  hearing 
what  can  be  said  about  it  by  persons  of  every  variety  of 
opinion,  and  studying  all  modes  in  which  it  can  be  looked 
at  by  every  character  of  mind.  No  wise  man  ever  ac- 
quired his  wisdom  in  any  mode  but  this ;  nor  is  it  in  the 
nature  of  human  intellect  to  become  wise  in  any  other 
manner." 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CLASS-ROOM  MANAGEMENT  185 

*'  I  have  never  yet  seen  in  any  college  or  university," 
says  President  Eliot,  **  a  method  of  instruction  which  was 
too  good  for  an  elementary  school  or  a  secondary  school. 
The  alert,  inspiring,  winning,  commanding  teacher  is  just 
the  same  rare  and  admirable  person  in  school  and  college. 
When  it  is  a  question  how  best  to  teach  a  given  subject, 
the  chances  are  that  college  or  scientific-school  teachers  of 
that  subject  can  help  school  teachers,  and  that  school 
teachers  can  help  college  teachers.  Moreover,  it  is  im- 
portant that  each  should  know  what  the  other  does."  ^ 

Individuality.  —  It  is  desirable  in  large  schools  that 
there  should  be  some  general  unity  of  method,  but  teach- 
ers ought  not  to  be  reduced  to  the  dead  level  of  Chinese 
uniformity.  The  life  of  all  good  teaching  is  the  individ- 
uality of  the  class  teacher.  Principals  should  allow  as- 
sistants the  same  liberty  that  they  ask  for  themselves. 
The  general  tendency  of  large  graded  schools  is  to  weaken 
the  individuality  of  both  teacher  and  pupil.  Uriiformity 
in  essentials,  diversity  in  particulars,  should  be  the  rule. 
Without  some  degree  of  freedom,  there  can  be  neither 
interest  nor  enthusiasm.  Slaves  never  become  enthusiastic 
except  in  a  struggle  for  liberty. 

Grade  Promotions.  —  A  quarter  of  a  century  ago  there 
prevailed  in  most  of  the  cities  of  our  country  an  epidemic 
of  official  written  examinations  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
which  determined  the  promotion  of  pupils  from  grade  to 
grade.  These  examinations  belonged  to  the  class  termed 
by  Huxley  "  the  Abomination  of  Desolation."  The 
result  was  disastrous  both  to  teachers  and  pupils.  Finally, 
the  evils  of  this  method  became  unbearable,  and  there 
was  a  general  revolt  against  it.  The  "  lock-step "  of 
graded  schools  was  broken.     In  many  cities,   pupils  are 

1  "Educational  Reform  "  (1898). 


1 86  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

now  promoted  from  grade  to  grade,  or  section  to  section, 
by  the  school  principal  and  the  class  teacher,  semi-annually 
or  annually,  by  class  recordsandthe  judgment  of  teachers. 
In  the  best  schools  pupils  are  changed  from  section  to 
section  whenever  they  become  fitted  for  it. 

In  an  address  on  "  Problems  in  Graded  School  Management,"  Dr. 
Emerson  E.  White,  of  Ohio,  makes  the  following  statements  :  "  There 
is  a  growing  conviction  among  the  more  intelligent  observers  of  our 
graded  system  of  schools,  that  there  are  serious  defects  either  in  the 
system  itself  or  in  the  administration.  .  .  .  But  whatever  may  be  true 
of  the  necessity  or  value  of  test  examinations,  they  are  very  generally 
employed  in  graded  schools,  and  their  character  largely  determines 
the  character  of  school  instruction.  If  the  examination  tests  are 
narrow  and  technical,  the  instruction  will  be  narrow  and  technical ;  if 
the  tests  run  to  figures,  the  instruction  will  run  to  figures ;  if  the  tests 
demand  details,  they  will  '  emphasize  and  make  imperative  all  the 
lumber  of  the  text-books.'  .  .  .  Instead  of  half-time  schools,  I  would 
suggest  a  half-time  course  of  study  in  all  grades  above  the  primary. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  require  all  the  pupils  to  take  the  same  number 
of  studies  and  advance  with  even  step  through  the  course.  This  pro- 
crustean  device  must  be  given  up  if  the  public  school  system  is  to  do 
its  full  legitimate  work  as  an  agency  for  the  education  of  the  whole 
people.  Instead  of  excluding  pupils  who  cannot  meet  all  the  conditions 
of  a  complete  and  thorough  course  of  elementary  education,  it  must 
provide  for  such  pupils  the  best  education  possible  under  the  circum- 
stances." 1 

Written  Examinations.  —  In  all  schools  there  must  be 
occasional  written  examinations.  Kept  within  reasonable 
limits,  they  are  productive  of  great  good,  provided  the 
questions  are  properly  prepared.  Here  again  I  am  con- 
strained to  quote  the  tersely  put  statements  of  President 
Eliot :  "  Tests  of  faithfulness  and  of  mental  condition  are 
also  necessary  at  stated  periods ;  but  these  tests  should 

1  Republished  in  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education, 
Vol.  2,  1896-97. 


SUGGESTIONS  ON  CLASS-ROOM  MANAGEMENT 


1^7 


be  directed  to  ascertain  what  the  pupils  can  do,  rather 
than  what  they  know.  There  must  be  examinations,  an- 
ticipated and  unanticipated.  Let  them  always  be  con- 
ducted by  the  teacher,  for  the  teacher,  and  as  helps  and 
guides  in  teaching  and  learning." 

This  question  of  per  cent,  is  nowhere  set  forth  more 
clearly  than  by  Arnold  Tompkins,  when  he  says :  "  It 
must  be  remembered  that  nothing  lies  like  figures  when 
used  to  indicate  mental  attainments ;  especially  so  when 
per  cents,  are  used  as  motives  to  study,  and  become  an 
object  of  attainment  by  the  teacher." 

School  Program.  —  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  rel- 
ative time  to  be  given  to  the  different  studies,  and  for  the 
arrangement  of  a  program,  teachers  are  referred  to  the 
"Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  "  (1895),  and  the 
*'  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Twelve  "  (1897). 

The  Chief  End.  —  T-Lculgr  a]|  the  mprhanism  of  crpHpH 
schools,  and  programs,  and  courses  of  study,  teachers 
must^ol  lusL  sight  Of  llTe  fact  that  the  chief  end  o^  the 
schooland  the  teacher  is  to  bring  about  m  some  way  tn'e^ 
best  possible  development  for  each  particular  pupil.  Now 
the^hildren  are  variable  factors.  1  hey  neither  look  alike" 
nor  think  nh'ke.  They  have  inherjtffj  fliff^r^nf  pr>.irp>rg 
of  mind  and  tendencies  of  temperament.  School  ma- 
chinery, however  elaborate  and  systematic,  and  beautiful, 
must  not  be  allowed  to  crush  out  ail  nidividualliy  ih  the 
child.  Each  pupil  is  of  more  consequence  than  jthe 
system.  Child  study  means  a  recog^nition  of  differences 
in  pupifs.  In  spite  of  numbers  and  automatic  appliances, 
it  is  the  fine  art  of  t|if  ^^'^^  j-p^^^v.^^  f^  ir;,->^i^  Pirh  little 
souPnito  high  ideals  with  some  spark  of  enthusiasm  from 
her  own. 


CHAPTER  III 
RECITATIONS  AND  THE  ART  OF  USING  TEXT-BOOKS 

Objects  of  the  Recitation.  — The  objects  of  the  reci- 
tation are  to  induce  study,  to  test  preparation,  to  awaken 
inquiry,  to  cultivate  expression  and  attention,  and  to  en- 
able the  teacher  to  give  necessary  explanation  and  instruc- 
tion. But  the  main  purpose  should  be,  not  so  much  "  to 
hear  the  lesson,"  as  to  instruct  the  pupil.  According  to 
Herbart,  the  formal  steps  should  be  : 

1.  The  preparation,  which  consists  in  connecting  the 
preceding  lesson  with  the  one  in  hand. 

2.  The  making  clear  the  new  material  to  the  compre- 
hension of  the  pupil. 

3.  The  apperception  or  assimilation  of  new  ideas  with 
old  ideas  by  association,  to  make  sure  the  whole  lesson  is 
understood. 

Credits  and  Checks.  —  Waste  as  little  time  as  possible 
in  keeping  a  daily  account  of  recitation  credits.  No 
teacher  can  do  his  best  at  instructing  when  his  attention 
is  diverted  by  jotting  down  credits.  The  strong  tendency 
in  graded  schools  to  run  into  excessive  dependence  upon 
questions  and  text-book  answers  springs  largely  from  the 
undue  importance  attached  to  credits  and  rank.  Many 
sensitive  pupils  are  kept  in  a  constant  worry  on  account 
of  "checks"  in  recitations.  A  "check"  is  not  quite  so 
brutal  as  a  blow ;  but  the  depressing  effect  of  its  endless 
dropping  is  often  quite  as  bad  upon  the  disposition.  Be- 
sides, if  all  the  half  hour  of  recitation  is  spent  in  putting 

188 


RECITATIONS  AND  ART  OF  USING  TEXT-BOOKS     189 

a  question  to  each  pupil  in  order  to  "  mark  "  him,  there 
is  little  time  left  for  teaching.  The  most  vital  work  done 
in  a  class  cannot  be  reduced  to  percentage.  Recitation  rec- 
ords may  be  kept ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  desirable  that 
every  recitation  should  be  recorded.  Frequently  the 
recitation  of  an  assigned  lesson  should  be  brief,  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  time  being  devoted  to  explanations  and 
illustrations  by  the  teacher. 

The  Oral  Method.  —  Pupils  attend  school,  not  merely 
to  recite^ut  also  to  be  instructed_and_aided  by  the  living 
j^achen  Do  not  stop  short  with  hearing  a  lesson  ;  add 
something  to  it ;  discuss  it ;  show  its  connection  with  pre- 
ceding-lessons and  its  relation  to  the  next  advance  lesson, 
and  thus  excite  some  interest  on  the  part  of  pupils.  In 
doing  this,  there  is  no  need  of  going  to  the  extreme  of 
not  requiring  pupils  to  recite  set  lessons  in  set  terms,  pro- 
vided that  you  are  satisfied  that  ideas  are  associated  with 
the  words  repeated.  ''  The  older  pedagogic  method  of 
learning  things  by  rote,"  says  Dr.  William  James,  **  and 
reciting  them  parrot-like  in  the  schoolroom,  rested  on  the 
truth  that  a  thing  merely  read  or  heard,  and  never  ver- 
bally reproduced,  contracts  the  weakest  possible  adhesion 
in  the  mind.  Verbal  recitation  or  reproduction  is  thus  a 
highly  important  kind  of  reactive  behavior  on  our  impres- 
sions, and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  in  the  reaction  against  the 
old  parrot  recitations  as  the  beginning  and  end  of  instruc- 
tion, the  extreme  value  of  verbal  recitation  as  an  element 
of  complete  training  may  be  nowadays  too  much  for- 
gotten." 

Text-books.  —  In  the  primitive  common  school  the 
chief  duty  of  the  pupil  was  to  memorize  text-book  les- 
sons, and  the  main  office  of  the  teacher  was  to  ask  the 
text-book  questions  without  note,  comment,  or  explana- 


90 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


tion.  While  this  custom  has  been  materially  modified  by 
modern  methods,  undue  dependence  upon  the  text-book 
is  still  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  schools  in  our 
country. 

In  an  official  report  on  the  public-school  system  of  the 
United  States  by  a  distinguished  German  educator,  Dr. 
E.  Schlee,  who  attended  in  an  official  capacity  the  World's 
Fair  at  Chicago  and  the  Congress  of  Education,  there  is 
found  the  following  paragraph  on  "  Methods  and  Text- 
Books  "  :  1 

"  The  American  method  of  instruction,  having  taken  the  French  and 
English  mechanical  memorizing  for  its  model,  differs  essentially  from 
the  German.  It  aims,  not  at  comprehending  and  mastering  a  subject 
through  understanding,  but  at  the  acquisition  of  a  complete  presenta- 
tion through  the  memory-.  Consequently,  instruction  is  defined  less  by 
the  teacher  than  by  the  text-book ;  which  is  learned  almost  by  heart. 
Most  of  the  time  is  taken  up  by  daily  questions  and  answers,  and 
marks  are  given  for  the  recitation.  The  book  contains  a  number  of 
questions  with  answers  attached  for  recitation.  Examinations  for 
promotion  in  class,  as  well  as  teachers'  examinations,  consist,  for  the 
most  part,  of  a  number  of  questions  and  answers,  so  that  with  diligent 
application  and  a  good  memory  even  an  inferior  mind  can  easily  pass 
them.  Be  the  books  never  so  good,  such  instruction  will  hardly  lead 
to  the  development  of  the  intellect  and  to  a  free  mastery  of  the  subject. 
The  stacks  of  pupils'  work  at  the  exposition  in  Chicago  contained  ex- 
cellent work  in  geography  and  the  natural  sciences,  especially  physiol- 
ogy ;  the  explanatory  drawings  were  particularly  good  and  appro- 
priate, but  the  finished  form  and  at  times  the  almost  identical  word- 
ing, betrayed  that  they  were  chapters  from  the  text-book  committed  to 
memory.  American  teachers  are  by  no  means  ignorant  of  this  defi- 
ciency in  their  method.  Many  objections  have  been  urged,  but  the 
method  is  a  natural  growth  of  the  whole  school  system.  In  cases 
where  schools  or  a  few  teachers  have  adopted  the  German  method 
they  and  their  pupils  appear  at  a  disadvantage  at  inspections  and  ex- 
aminations arranged  according  to  the  text-book  system." 

^  Report  of  Commissioner  of  Education,  1892-93. 


RECITATIONS  AND  ART  OF  USING   TEXT-BOOKS     191 

Use  of  Text-Books.  —  One  of  the  things  which  young 
teachers  must  acquire  by  experience  and  practice  is  the 
fine  art  of  making  a  wise  use  of  school  text-books  by  fit- 
ting the  printed  lessons  to  the  minds  of  pupils  by  means 
of  inductive  development  exercises  and  explanations.  For 
the  author  of  a  school  arithmetic,  or  grammar,  or  geog- 
raphy, intended  for  use  in  grades  other  than  the  primary, 
is  subject  to  rigid  limitations.  His  book  must  treat  of 
the  conventional  topics  found  in  other  books  on  the  same 
subjects,  else  it  will  be  rejected  by  publishers  and  school 
boards.  It  must  be  limited  to  a  certain  number  of  pages 
in  order  to  compete  in  price  with  similar  books.  There  is 
no  room  for  inductive  exercises,  and  the  author  reluc- 
tantly falls  back  on  the  deductive  or  formal  method  of 
definition,  general  statement,  rule,  exercises,  and  problems.^  / 
The  easy  inductive  steps  must,  of  necessity,  be  supplied)  f 
by  the  development  lessons  of  the  teacher. 

Illustration  in  Arithmetic.  —  Before  me  lies  a  copy  of 
the  Advanced  Arithmetic  (1887),  officially  adopted  for 
use  in  the  common  schools  of  the  state  of  California.  It 
is  edited,  published,  and  sold  by  the  state.  In  using  this 
text-book  according  to  the  average  courses  of  study, 
pupils  go  through  "  the  four  rules,"  and  begin  their  first 
lessons  in  written  common  fractions,  in  the  fifth  or 
sixth  grade.  The  subject  is  presented  in  a  deductive 
manner  admirably  adapted  to  a  mathematician  of  the  old 
colonial  type.  It  begins  with  a  philosophical  definition 
as  follows  :  *'  A  fraction  is  an  indicated  division.  Thus, 
the  indicated  division  of  the  remainder  in  division  is  a 
fraction."  This  is  immediately  followed  by  other  defini- 
tions, such  as  :  numerator,  denominator,  integer,  mixed 
number,  and  improper  fraction.  Next,  these  definitions 
are  applied  in  twenty-one  *'  Exercises  "  in  which  the  frac- 


192 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


tions  given  are  to  be  classified  in  columns  on  the  slate  ac- 
cording to  the  preceding  definitions.  The  following  are 
typical  -  exercises  "  :  "  (6)  iM^  iH  ;  "  -  (13)  m^  M^  fM-" 

Now  human  ingenuity  could  hardly  devise  a  more  un- 
psychological  beginning.  It  is  evident  that  teachers  must 
precede  this  deductive  treatment  by  a  series  of  inductive 
questions,  explanations,  and  genetic  exercises,  which  shall 
prepare  the  minds  of  pupils  to  assimilate  this  crude  mass 
of  fractions  with  what  little  knowledge  of  real  business 
fractions  they  have  managed  to  pick  up  outside  of  school 
and  then  substitute  in  place  of  the  *'  exercises,"  exam- 
ples that  will  be  in  accord  with  both  common-sense  and 
modern  psychology. 

In  a  few  lessons  after  this  formidable  introduction  to 
fractions,  in  due  ''logical  order,"  pupils  reach  a  topic 
headed  "  inverting  the  divisor."  An  example  is  given  in 
division  of  fractions,  with  an  analytical  or  algebraical  ex- 
planation of  the  reason  for  inverting  the  divisor.  This 
brings  to  mind  my  own  experience  as  a  teacher  half  a 
century  ago  in  a  district  school  in  New  England.  At  the 
close  of  the  winter  term  the  examining  committee  made 
their  appearance — one  of  them  being  the  master  of  the 
town  high  school,  who  examined  my  arithmetic  class  of 
three  boys  by  asking  only  one  question,  to  wit :  "  Give  an 
explanation  of  the  reason  for  inverting  the  divisor." 

This  lesson  on  "  inverting  the  divisor  "  is  immediately 
succeeded  by  an  appalling  exercise  on  "  complex  frac- 
tions," piled  up  in  pyramids  of  confusion.  Is  it  not  the 
imperative  duty  of  the  young  teacher  to  cut  loose  from 
this  dry,  pedantic,  mathematical  formalism  and  take  up 
the  subject  in  some  natural  method  of  development? 

Finally,  the  pupils  reach  "  decimal  fractions,"  in- 
troduced by  a  **  diagram"  and   thirty-two    "exercises," 


RECITATIONS  AND  ART  OF  USING  TEXT-BOOKS 


193 


to  be  read  and  written.  The  following  are  fair  samples 
of  these  exercises  :  "(5)7.007;  (6)  .13147  ;  (19)  171.4112; 
(29)  293.0293."  What  possible  use  can  teachers,  possessed 
of  plain  common  sense,  make  of  a  text-book  lesson  like 
this  for  a  class  of  beginners  ? 

How  one  class  encountered  this  formidable  deductive  lesson,  I  know 
from  observation.  On  entering  an  evening  school  in  San  Francisco,  I 
found  an  anxious-looking  young  lady  in  charge  of  a  sixth  grade  class 
of  boys.  She  said  to  me,  with  a  weary  air  :  "  We  are  taking  our  first 
lessons  in  decimals  this  evening,  and  the  boys  don't  seem  to  understand 
it."  "  What  is  the  lesson  ?  "  I  asked.  She  showed  me  the  book  open 
at  the  "  diagram  and  32  exercises  "  mentioned  above.  Taking  charge 
of  the  class,  I  sent  half  the  boys  to  the  board,  let  the  others  take  paper 
and  pencil,  and  dictated  a  column  of  dollars  and  cents  to  be  added. 
The  work  was  well  done  because  the  question  was  a  business  one  and 
these  were  business  boys.  Then  I  asked  them  such  questions  as  the 
following  :  How  many  cents  in  a  dollar  ?  What  part  of  a  dollar  is  one 
cent  ?  ;  25  cents  ? ;  75  cents  }  etc.  Next  they  read,  from  the  columns 
on  the  board,  each  item  as  dollars  and  hundredths  of  a  dollar ;  then, 
they  erased  the  sign  of  dollars,  and  read  each  item  as  a  whole  number 
and  hundredths.  Finally,  with  $1.12^  cents  written  on  the  board, 
and  a  few  inductive  questions,  the  class  understood  the  reading  and 
writing  of  decimals  to  thousandths,  and  there  the  lesson  ended. 

Take  still  another  illustration.  After  a  year  devoted 
to  common  fractions,  the  growing  boy  at  last  reaches  on 
page  105  of  his  book,  a  half  page  on  *'  Dollars  and  Cents 
Written  Decimally,"  containing  ''  16  exercises  to  be  read," 
such  as  ''$25.50,"  etc.  Now  it  was  believed  in  colonial 
times  that  in  "  logical  "  sequence  decimal  fractions  could 
not  be  learned  until  all  the  complications  of  common 
fractions  had  been  mastered.  Consequently,  in  all  parts 
of  this  book  previous  to  page  105,  $25.50  is  expressed  as 
"$25^;"  $2.35  as  "$2^;"  $1.75  as  "  $i|,"  etc.  This 
form  of  expression  is  awkward,  but  it  was  assumed  as  a 
"  logical  necessity."     Immediately  after  this  half  page  of 

AM.    PUB.    SCH. 13 


194  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

dollars  and  cents,  the  pupil  is  confronted  by  a  half  page 
on  ''  circulating  decimals."  What  is  the  evident  duty  of 
the  teacher?  Because  Nicholas  Pike,  a  century  ago, 
placed  his  two  pages  on  "  Federal  Currency  "  in  a  certain 
place  in  his  arithmetic,  must  that  "  logical  order  "  remain 
forever  unchanged  ?  When  the  children  in  all  the  schools 
of  France  learn  decimals  and  whole  numbers  from  the 
beginning,  and  carry  both  along  together  naturally  and 
easily,  shall  American  boys  and  girls,  who  use  the  Metric 
System  as  far  as  currency  is  conc-erned,  postpone  the 
writing  of  dollars  and  cents  until  long  past  the  middle  of 
their  school  course  ? 

Turn  to  Grammar.  —  In  teaching  etymology,  in  what- 
ever grade  the  subject  is  begun,  teachers  should  connect, 
by  means  of  inductive  exercises,  whatever  knowledge 
children  have  acquired  in  the  use  of  their  mother  tongue 
with  the  new  terms  which  are  presented  in  the  text-book 
lesson.  For  instance,  before  assigning  a  lesson  on 
"  tense,"  the  teacher  should  call  the  attention  of  pupils 
to  the  fact  that  they  have  been  using  correctly  for  years, 
most  of  the  verb  forms  to  express  present,  past,  and 
future  time.  By  suitable  questions,  without  using  tech- 
nical terms,  pupils  should  be  led  to  make  up  sentences  to 
show  these  distinctions  of  time.  They  may  then  regard 
the  assigned  lesson  with  some  little  degree  of  interest.  If 
pains  were  taken  to  explain  the  real  purpose  of  learning 
the  conjugation  of  a  verb,  and  pupils  were  asked  to  make 
use  of  each  verb-form  in  a  full  sentence  for  the  purpose 
of  expressing  a  thought,  the  possible  use  of  studying 
"  conjugation  "  from  the  book  might  begin  to  dawn  upon 
them.  In  a  modern  text-book  on  my  table,  a  lesson  on 
"  conjugation  "  begins  with  a  definition  of  the  term,  fol- 
lowed by  definitions  of  regular  and  irregular  verbs,  and  of 


RECITATIONS  AND  ART  OF  USING  TEXT-BOOKS 


95 


the  term  "principal  parts."  Without  further  waste  of 
words,  the  author  proceeds  at  once  to  present  "  a  conjuga- 
tion of  the  verb  to  be  auxiliary  of  the  passive  voice,  and 
of  the  progressive  form."  This  is  immediately  followed 
by  a  "paradigm  of  the  regular  verb :   To  loveT 

What  course  shall  teachers  pursue  to  lighten  up  this 
lesson  full  of  terms  new  to  pupils,  and  apparently  entirely 
destitute  of  interest  to  them  because  of  their  utter  in- 
ability to  comprehend  its  use?  A  little  preparatory 
thought  may  enable  many  teachers  to  discover  some  way 
of  interesting  the  class.  Some  modern  book  on  language 
lessons  and  grammar  to  which  teachers  can  turn  will  pre- 
sent inductive  approaches  to  this  topic.  Almost  any  way 
is  better  than  the  mere  memorizing  of  the  "  paradigm  " 
without  perceiving  its  application  to  the  use  of  language. 

The  Development  Method.  —  "  The  developing  plan  of 
teaching,"  says  McMurry,  "  is  one  radically  different  from 
the  lecture   and  the   text-book   methods.     The   teacher     / 
who  employs  it  lectures  or  tells  comparatively  little  to 
her  class,  although  it  is  important  to  remember  that  she 
"Soes  tell  some  things  outright ;  neither  does   she  allo\y__ 
the   facts  that  are  to   be   learned   to   be   first   presented  : 
through  a  text-book ;  she  prefers  to  develop  them  by  con- 
versation with  the^pupils.  .  .  .  Conversation  for  the  sake 
of  developing  facts  should  be  prominent  in  ail  school  in- 
struction,  and  since  text-books,  if  used  to  introduce  the      " 
topics,  would  often  deprive  this  conversation  of  its  point' 
their  perusal  should  in  such  cases  follow  rather  than  pre- 
cede the  discussion  itself.    One  trouble  with  many  people 
is  that  they  began  text-books  so  early  in  school  and  fol- 
lowed them  so  closely  that  they  have  never  learned  to 
distinguish  their  own  thoughts  and  opinions  from  those 
of  the  books ;  in  fact,  they  are  scarcely  aware  that  they 


196  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

have  opinions  of  their  own.  The  present  common  use  of 
text-books  in  school  results  too  often  in  slavery  to  books 
or  loss  of  independence  in  thought,  rather  than  in  a  mas- 
tery of  books  and  ability  to  use  them  properly." 

But  it  is  possible  to  carry  the  development  method  to 
extremes,  and  teachers  must  endeavor  to  keep  an  even 
balance  of  judgment.  Pupils-must  not..be  left. to  find  out 
everything  for  themselves  because  much  effort  might  be 
wasted. 

Interest  and  Attention.  —  Most  of  us  retain  pleasant 
memories  of  some  gifted  teacher  who  had  the  power  of 
interesting  us  in  our  work  and  thus  stimulating  us  to  do 
our  best.  This  power  of  interesting  pupils  in  their  school 
work  is  partly  a  gift  of  nature,  and  partly  the  result  of 
skill  acquired  by  practice  in  accord  with  the  principles  of 
educational  psychology.  Few  teachers  now  rely  mainly 
on  the  compulsory  memorizing  of  text-book  lessons 
learned  without  interest  on  the  part  of  pupils  and  im- 
perfectly comprehended,  or  not  understood  at  all.  The 
chief  aim  of  modern  teachers,  whether  in  primary  grade  • 
or  grammar  grade,  high  school  or  college  class,  is  to  in- 
terest pupils  in  the  subject-matter,  and  so  lead  them  to 
the  self-development  of  their  own  powers. 

As  to  detailed  ways  of  interesting  pupils,  there  are 
many  good  modern  treatises  on  applied  psychology  and 
pedagogics  to  which  teachers  can  turn  for  suggestions. 
From  one  of  the  leaders  in  educational  psychology,  Pro- 
fessor William  James,  I  quote  one  paragraph,  with  the 
hope  that  teachers  will  seek  for  more  from  the  same 
source :  *  ''  Any  object  not  interesting  in  itself  may  be-_^ 
xome  interesting  through  becoming  associated  with_an_. 

^  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1889.     "  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychol- 

ogy." 


RECITATIONS  AND  ART  OF  USING  TEXT-BOOKS 


[97 


objecMn3^hiGluan.4nterest  already  exists.  The  two  asso- 
ciated objects  grow,  as  it  were,  together;  the  interesting 
portion  sheds  its  quality  over  the  whole ;  and  thus,  things 
not  interesting  in  their  own  right  borrow  an  interest 
which  becomes  as  real  and  as  strong  as  that  of  any  na- 
tively interesting  thing.  .  .  .  From  all  these  facts  there 
emerges  a  very  simple  abstract  program  for  the  teacher 
to  follow  in  keeping  the  attention  of  the  child :  Begin 
with  the  line  of  his  native  interests^  and  offer  him  objects 
that  have  some  immediate  connection  with  these'' 

General  Principles.  —  In  the  general  management  of 
the  recitation  the  difference  between  the  skilled  teacher 
and  the  untrained  teacher  is  constantly  made  apparent. 
The  unskilled  teacher  assumes  that  children  are  educated 
mainly  by  what  they  are  told,  or  by  what  they  commit  to 
memory  from  books.  His  fetich  is  the  school  text-book, 
and  he  makes  his  pupils  bow  down  before  it.  To  him  the 
child  has  but  one  intellectual  faculty,  and  that  is  memory. 

Mill  says,  that  if  there  is  a  first  principle  in  education, 
it  is  this :  ''  That  the  discipline  which  does  good  to  the 
mind,  is  that  in  which  the  mind  is  active,  not  passive ;  the 
secret  of  developing  the  faculties  is  to  give  them  much  to 
dfoT^^ct  much  inducement  to  do  it."  Tyndall  says,  "The 
exercise  of  the  mind,  like  that  of  the  body,  depends  for 
its  value  upon  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  accomplished." 
Spencer  says,  *'  The  child  should  be  told  as  little  as  pos^ 
sible  and  induced  to  discover  as  much  as  possible." 
All  modern  educators  agree  that  in  every  branch  of 
study  the  mind  should  be  conducted  from  the  simple 
to  the  complex ;  the  concrete  to  the  abstract ;  the  indef- 
inite to  the  definite  ;  the  empirical  to  the  rational  or  scien- 
tific. But  the  unpsychological  teacher  violates  all  these 
first  principles.     In  arithmetic,  he  begins  with  definitions 


1 98  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

and  mechanical  rules,  and  ends  in  puzzling  problems.  In 
grammar,  he  omits  the  actual  use  of  language  in  express- 
ing thought,  and  devotes  his  attention  to  the  technicalities 
of  parsing,  analysis,  and  diagrams.  In  geography,  he  is 
content  to  have  his  pupils  memorize  names,  regardless  of 
associated  ideas.  In  history,  he  strings  dates,  like  wooden 
beads,  upon  the  thread  of  memory.  In  reading,  he  trains 
pupils  to  call  words  without  reference  to  thought.  In 
botany,  he  takes  books  before  plants,  and  in  physics,  omits 
experiments.  In  fact,  he  neither  awakens  curiosity,  nor 
excites  inquiry. 

While  the  art  of  conducting  the  recitation  must  be  ac- 
quired, in  part,  by  actual  practice  in  teaching,  it  is  a  great 
gain  for  young  teachers  to  begin  with  high  ideal  aims, 
presented  by  masters  in  this  art.  A  careful  study  of  "  The 
Method  of  the  Recitation"  (1897),  by  the  two  brothers, 
Charles  A.  and  Frank  M.  McMurry,  cannot  fail  to  lead 
any  teacher,  young  or  old,  experienced  or  inexperienced, 
into  new  lines  of  thought,  which  will  result  in  higher  ideals 
of  instruction.  This  book  is  the  clearest  and  most  prac- 
tical presentation  of  the  subject  that  has  been  made,  as 
yet,  in  this  country.  The  authors  make  in  their  preface 
the  following  statements  : 

"  The  Method  of  the  Recitation  is  based  upon  the  principles  of 
teaching  which  were  expounded  and  illustrated  in  the  works  of  Herbart, 
Rein,  and  Ziller.  At  the  same  time,  the  authors  hope  to  have  shown 
in  the  body  of  the  work  that  we  have  to  do  here  with  principles  rec- 
ognized by  teachers  in  every  land,  and  that  there  is  no  thoughtless 
imitation  of  foreign  methods  and  devices.  While  our  debt  to  German 
thinkers  for  an  organization  of  fundamental  ideas  is  great,  the  entire 
discussion,  as  here  presented,  springs  out  of  American  conditions  ;  its 
illustrative  materials  are  drawn  exclusively  from  lessons  commonly 
taught  in  our  schools.  In  fact,  the  whole  book,  while  strongly  influ- 
enced by  Herbart 's  principles,  is  the  outgrowth  of  several  years'  con- 
tinuous work  with  classes  of  children  in  all  the  grades  of  the  common 
school." 


CHAPTER  IV 
PROFESSIONAL  READING  AND  STUDY 

Before  teaching  can  take  rank  as  a  profession,  teachers 
must  command  respect  for  their  scholarship.  Most  teach- 
ers can  make  their  culture  liberal  if  they  rightly  use  the 
leisure  time  which  their  occupation  gives  them  ;  and  those 
who  get  out  of  the  sphere  of  irriitation  into  that  of  inven- 
tion and  discovery,  will  find  ample  scope  for  their  powers. 

Teaching  as  an  Art.  —  Though  the  desirability  of  pro- 
fessional training  in  the  art  of  teaching  is  now  generally 
conceded,  the  greatest  waste  of  time  and  money  in  our 
school  system  comes  from  the  employment  of  untrained 
teachers,  who,  in  time,  learn  how  to  teach,  but  who  do  so 
at  the  expense  of  their  pupils.  This  waste  will  continue 
until  there  is  a  general  recognition  of  the  need  of  profes- 
sionally trained  teachers.  There  are,  it  is  true,  many  men 
and  women  who  make  teaching  their  life-work  ;  but  they 
have  little  or  no  legal  recognition  as  professional  teachers. 
No  state  law,  as  yet,  requires  any  professional  training 
whatever  as  a  prerequisite  for  teaching,  the  only  require- 
ment being  an  examination  in  certain  conventional 
branches.  The  legal  status  of  the  teacher  is  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  popular  fallacy  that  anybody  who  can 
get  a  certificate  is  fit  to  "  keep  school."  Why  should  not 
a  state  normal  school  diploma  be  taken  as  prima  facie 
evidence  of  fitness  to  teach  ?  Why  should  not  the  life 
diploma  of  one  state  be  legally  recognized  in  other  states  ? 

Is  there  any  good  and  sufficient  reason  why  each  state, 

199 


200  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

or  county,  or  city,  should  be  hemmed  in  by  an  ancient 
Chinese  wall  of  educational  exclusiveness  ?  Must  all 
teachers,  when  they  change  their  residence,  be  compelled 
to  halt  at  every  state  line,  or  city  limit,  or  town  boundary, 
and  submit  to  an  examination,  in  order  to  prove  that  they 
are  not  educational  tramps  ? 

President  Andrew  S.  Draper,  of  the  State  University  of  Illinois, 
tersely  sums  up  this  question  as  follows  :  ^  "  Teaching  in  the  common 
schools  of  the  country  cannot  be  advanced  to  the  standing  of  a  pro- 
fessional employment,  so  as  to  justify  its  classification  with  the  learned 
professions  until  the  conditions  which  obtain  in  many  of  our  states  are 
materially  modified.  It  is  absurd  to  think  of  reaching  that  consumma- 
tion so  long  as  competency  is  placed  in  ruinous  and  destructive  com- 
petition with  incompetency,  so  long  as  the  best  qualifications  are  scarce- 
ly able  to  earn  a  living  or  maintain  independent  self-respect,  while 
boys  and  girls  not  yet  mature,  physically  or  mentally,  and  older  persons 
who  are  unable  to  succeed  in  other  vocations  are  permitted  to  secure 
better  pay  for  alleged  teaching  in  the  schools  than  they  can  obtain  in 
any  other  way.  .  .  .  Without  a  scholarship  which  is  at  home  in  any 
intellectual  center,  without  special  training  which  can  readily  prove  its 
utility,  and  force  the  necessity  of  its  recognition,  without  public  dis- 
crimination between  professionals  and  amateurs,  without  an  entire 
cessation  of  indiscriminate  licensing,  without  putting  the  school  doors 
in  the  charge  of  professionals,  without  an  entire  elimination  of  favorit- 
ism— there  can  be  no  teaching  profession.  If  I  were  to  withhold  an- 
other word  you  would  draw  an  inference  which  I  should  regret.  As 
exacting  as  these  conditions  are,  it  is  by  no  means  impossible  to 
comply  with  them.  The  signs  of  the  times  are  auspicious.  There  is 
a  manifest  educational  awakening  throughout  the  country.  If  we  sur- 
vive twenty  years  we  shall  witness  advances  in  learning  more  marked 
and  far-reaching  than  the  country  has  ever  known  before." 

Pedagogical  Reading.  —  Aside  from  some  general 
course  of  literary  or  scientific  reading,  all  progressive  teach- 
ers will  read  something  relating  to  modern  educational 

1  Address  before  the  Massachusetts  State  Teachers'  Association, 
1890. 


PROFESSIONAL  READING  AND  STUDY         201 

psychology  and  practical  pedagogics.  They  will  sub- 
scribe for  and  read  at  least  one  weekly  journal  of  educa- 
tion, and  one  educational  monthly.  They  will  read  the 
reports  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
whenever  they  can  find  them  in  the  public  libraries,  and 
other  school  reports  whenever  they  can  get  them. 

Special  Studies.  —  The  student  teacher  who  wishes  to 
learn  something  about  apperception,  interest,  character 
training,  the  oral  method,  and  other  Herbartian  doctrines 
of  the  young  leaders  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  will 
do  well  to  read  McMurry's  General  Method,  De  Garmo's 
Essentials  of  Method,  De  Garmo's  Herbart  and  the  Her- 
bartians,  and  The  Method  of  the  Recitation,  by  Charles 
A.  and  Frank  M.  McMurry. 

Student  teachers  who  wish  to  make  special  studies  in 
school  management  and  organization  will  read  Dr.  Joseph 
Baldwin's  School  Management  and  School  Methods 
(1897);  Dr.  Emerson  E.  White's  School  Management; 
School  Management,  by  Arnold  Tompkins  (1895)  ;  or  any 
other  good  book  of  similar  scope. 

On  applied  pedagogy  they  will  read  Colonel  Parker's 
Talks  on  Pedagogics,  Compayre's  Lectures  on  Teaching 
(Payne),  and  Hinsdale's  Teaching  the  Language  Arts. 
For  advanced  thoughts  on  education  in  general,  they  will 
read  Educational  Reform  (1898),  by  Charles  W.  Eliot, 
President  of  Harvard  University.  This  book  is  made  up 
of  papers  read  by  the  author  from  time  to  time,  at  various 
kinds  of  educational  gatherings.  President  Eliot  has  been 
an  educational  reformer  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and 
while  his  chief  work  has  been  done  in  connection  with 
Harvard  University,  he  has  been  a  leader  in  all  matters 
relating  to  elective  courses  of  study  in  all  kinds  of  schools, 
from  primary  grade  to  university.     His  book  ranks  as  one 


202  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

of  the  most  interesting  and  most  instructive  contribu- 
tions to  modern  educational  literature.  It  is  of  special 
value  to  public  school  teachers,  as  well  as  to  educational 
leaders. 

On  the  subject  of  psychology  there  are  many  books. 
The  young  student  may  begin  with  one  of  the  clearest 
and  most  comprehensible,  Halleck's  Psychology  and 
Psychic  Culture  (1898),  and  follow  up  the  subject  by 
reading  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology,  by  Dr.  William 
James  (1899),  succeeded  by  other  books  whenever  they 
appear. 

Here  perhaps  a  thought  from  Professor  James  will  prove  of  value  to 
student  teachers  :  "  The  art  of  teaching  grew  up  in  the  schoolroom, 
out  of  inventiveness  and  sympathetic  concrete  observation.  Even 
where,  as  in  the  case  of  Herbart,  the  advancer  of  the  art  was  also  a 
psychologist,  the  pedagogics  and  the  psychology  ran  side  by  side,  and 
the  former  was  not  derived  in  any  sense  from  the  latter.  The  two 
were  congruent,  but  not  subordinate.  And  so  everywhere,  the  teach- 
ing must  agree  with  the  psychology,  but  need  not  necessarily  be  the 
only  kind  of  teaching  that  would  so  agree,  for  many  diverse  methods 
of  teaching  may  equally  follow  psychological  laws.  To  know  psychol- 
ogy, therefore,  is  absolutely  no  guarantee  that  we  should  be  good 
teachers.  To  advance  to  that  result  we  must  have  an  additional  en- 
dowment altogether,  a  happy  tact  and  ingenuity  to  tell  us  what  definite 
things  to  say  or  do.  That  ingenuity  in  meeting  and  pursuing  the  pupil, 
that  tact  for  the  concrete  situation,  though  the  alpha  and  omega  of  the 
teacher's  art,  are  things  to  which  psychology  cannot  help  us  in  the 
least.  .  .  .  Divination  and  perception,  not  psychological  pedagogics 
or  strategy  are  the  only  helpers  here.  .  .  .  But  if  the  use  of  psycho- 
logical principles  be  negative  rather  than  positive,  it  does  not  follow 
that  it  may  not  be  a  great  use,  all  the  same.  ^ 

Within  the  past  ten  years  attention  has  been  directed 
to  a  study  of  the  child  rather  than  to  the  study  of  meta- 
physics.    The  teacher  interested  in  this  special  direction 

^  "  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychology,"  by  William  James  (1899). 


PROFESSIONAL  READING  AND  STUDY 


203 


will  do  well  to  read  the  various  monographs  of  G.  Stanley- 
Hall,  President  of  Clark  University ;  the  Year  Books  of 
the  National  Herbart  Society ;  the  leading  educational 
journals  in  the  United  States;  and  The  Study  of  the 
Child  (1898),  by  A.  R.  Taylor,  or  any  one  of  several 
other  books  on  this  subject. 

For  special  studies  in  the  history  of  education  in  our 
own  country,  students  may  begin  with  Martin's  Evolution 
of  the  Public  School  System  of  Massachusetts ;  followed 
by  Boone's  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States, 
and  Dr.  A.  D.  Mayo's  historical  sketches  of  early  educa- 
tion in  the  United  States  found  in  the  reports  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Education,  from  1894  to  1898. 

Teachers  should  make  a  study,  in  detail,  of  the  early 
educational  history  of  the  town,  city,  or  state  in  which  they 
are  teaching  school.  Town  histories  and  state  histories  are 
now  available  to  some  extent  in  most  large  libraries.  These 
local  records  are  of  great  interest  and  of  priceless  value. 

After  many  years  of  absence  from  New  England,  I  re- 
cently took  a  trip  across  the  continent  in  search  of  early 
educational  records  not  to  be  found  in  California.  There 
in  the  town  records  and  town  histories,  I  read  accounts 
of  early  settlements,  primitive  schools,  and  warfare  with 
savages.  There  were  the  rolls  of  honor  of  volunteer 
soldiers  in  a  long  series  of  wars  —  King  William's  War, 
Queen  Anne's  War,  King  George's  War,  and  the  French 
and  Indian  War  —  with  pathetic  tales  of  the  slaughter  of 
women  and  children,  and  woful  stories  of  captivity  in 
Canada.  There  in  state  libraries  were  the  Army  Rolls  of 
the  Revolutionary  War,  the  War  of  1812,  the  Mexican 
War,  and  the  great  Civil  War,  most  terrible  of  all.  Every- 
where the  fervent  patriotism  of  the  people  was  made 
evident  in  statues,  monuments,  and  inscriptions  in  honor 


/ 


204  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

of  heroes,  soldiers,  and  statesmen.  In  every  burial  ground 
over  the  whole  country,  even  in  the  remotest  rural  dis- 
tricts," memorial  flags  "  blossomed  over  the  graves  of  men 
who  had  served  their  country  in  battle. 

In  the  town  histories,  too,  were  recorded  the  humble 
beginnings  of  the  common  schools,  and  the  names  of  the 
early  teachers  in  common  school  and  academy. 

Returning  to  my  western  home  through  the  great  met- 
ropolitan cities  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Chicago,  I  realized  that  the  seat  of  wealth,  power,  and 
empire  had  indeed  moved  westward.  But  I  hold  in  living 
remembrance  and  renewed  respect  the  sturdy  pioneers  of 
the  East,  who  made  their  way  against  "  heathen  savages," 
established  a  democracy  of  the  common  people,  helped 
to  win  Independence  from  the  British,  and  while  doing 
all  these  things,  wrested  an  economical  living  from  a  stub- 
born soil,  and  yet  found  time  to  establish  and  organize 
a  public  school  system  that  has  stamped  its  impress  on 
every  township  of  American  soil  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific. 
^vK  Applied  Pedagogics. — In  the  succeeding  chapters  of 
this  book,  the  modern  course  of  study  in  the  primary  and 
"  grammar  grades,  will  be  considered  somewhat  in  detail, 
and  generally  by  grades.  The  course,  as  presented,  will 
not  be  an  ideal  one,  possible  only  in  small  classes  under, 
the  most  favorable  conditions  as  to  numbers  and  condi- 
tions, but  one  which  shall  represent  the  average  American 
school  under  average  conditions.  An  attempt  will  be 
made  to  present  condensed  pedagogical  directions,  hints, 
and  suggestions  in  accord  with  modern  pedagogics  and  the 
principles  of  educational  psychology,  and  adapted  in  a 
measure  to  the  schools  as  they  now  exist.  In  accordance 
with  this  plan,  the  outlines  of  work  and  method  will  be 


PROFESSIONAL  READING  AND  STUDY 


205 


composite,  representing  the  schools  of  no  particular  part 
of  our  country,  but  like  a  composite  photograph,  presenting 
the  general  American  type.  Moreover,  liberal  quotations  \ 
will  be  drawn  from  the  latest  writing  of  American  teach- 
ers, educators,  and  pedagogical  leaders,  thus  presenting 
something  of  the  drift  of  educational  thought  in  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  V 

PEDAGOGICS  APPLIED  TO  READING,  WRITING,  SPELLING,  AND 
DRAWING,  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS 

I.    READING  AND   WRITING. 

First  Grade  or  Year. 

The  variety  and  excellence  of  the  Reading  Charts  and 
First  Readers  now  in  use,  render  unnecessary  any  specific 
consideration  of  methods  of  teaching  beginners  how  to 
read.  Most  teachers  begin  with  the  word-method  and, 
after  teaching  a  limited  number  of  common  words  in  easy 
sentences,  proceed  to  introduce  gradually  the  spelling  of 
words  by  letters,  aided,  more  or  less,  by  the  phonic  method. 
After  a  short  preparatory  training,  it  is  a  good  plan  for 
teachers  to  write  on  the  blackboards  short  sentences,  such 
as  children  use  in  conversation,  and  let  pupils  copy  them 
on  blackboards,  paper,  or  slates.  In  this  way  a  lively  in- 
terest may  be  awakened. 

Writing.  —  Writing  should  be  carried  along  hand  in 

hand  with  reading.     Children  may  begin  by  copying  on 

slates  or  paper,  words  or  short  sentences  written  on  the 

blackboard  by  the  teacher,  or  by  copying  script  lessons 

from  the  First  Reader.     If  possible,  children  should  be 

allowed  first  to  write  on  blackboards,  and  then  to  repeat 

the  lessons  on  slates  or  paper.     Writing  with  a  pencil  on 

paper  is  better  than  slate-writing,  and  after  the  first  half 

year,  the  pen  is  better  than  the  pencil.     Encourage  the 

crudest  attempts.     Show  pupils  how  to  hold  pens  and 

206 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    207 

pencils,  and  encourage  them  to  write  easily  and  freely. 
The  best  development  lessons  are :  First,  practice  on 
blackboards.  Second,  practice  on  paper  or  slates,  with 
the  pencil.     Third,  practice  on  paper  with  the  pen. 

Spelling.  —  The  first  work  in  spelling  should  be  com- 
bined with  writing,  by  having  pupils  copy,  first  from  the 
board  and  afterwards  from  memory,  words  written  by  the 
teacher.  A  little  oral  spelling  may  be  taken  at  times  to 
gain  the  help  of  the  ear  as  well  as  the  eye. 

"  All  educators  are  now  agreed,"  says  Compayre,  "  that 
the  child  ought  to  be  drilled  in  writing  from  the  moment 
he  enters  school,  and  that  he  should  not  wait  for  this  until 
he  has  learned  to  read  fluently.  More  and  more,  the 
truth  of  this  pedagogical  maxim  will  be  recognized,  that 
drawing,  writing,  and  reading,  need  one  another  and  are 
mutually  helpful." 

Aim.  —  The  aim  during  the  first  year  should  be  to 
change  the  child's  oral  vocabulary  into  the  corresponding 
forms  of  the  written  and  printed  page.  When  children 
enter  school  at  five  or  six  years  of  age,  they  have  been 
learning  a  spoken  language  from  the  time  they  began  to 
lisp  the  "wordspapa  and  mamma,  under  the  painstaking  tui- 
tion of  mothers  and  other  members  of  the  family.  Their 
colloquial  vocabulary  is  by  no  means  a  limited  one.  They 
have  already  learned  to  speak  their  native  tongue  with 
some  degree  of  "  propriety,"  though  they  have  never 
heard  of  grammar.  They  have  probably  learned  by  heart 
many  Mother  Goose  rhymes,  and  have  listened  to  folk- 
lore stories  handed  down  from  primitive  times.  Their 
active  young  minds  have  been  developed  by  the  method 
of  nature.  The  thoughtful  teacher  will  take  all  this  into 
account  when  she  begins  to  teach  these  children  to  read 
and  write  the  language  they  already  know  how  to  speak. 


2o8  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

Stories.  — As  a  continuation  of  the  home  method,  the 
teacher  will  tell  or  read  to  the  children  many  stories  of 
which  the* following  are  types:  The  Three  Bears,  Cinder- 
ella, Little  Red  Riding  Hood,  Jack  and  the  Bean  Stalk, 
The  Lion  and  the  Mouse,  The  Ugly  Duckling,  and  the 
Pea  Blossom. 

Dr.  Herman  T.  Lukens,  of  Clark  University,  makes  the  following 
suggestions  about  teaching  children  to  read  :  "  Most  children  learn  to 
read  either  as  a  matter  of  course,  or  else,  if  they  think  of  it  at  all,  the 
only  reason  they  can  find  is  because  other  boys  are  learning  to  read. 
...  A  child  who  does  not  want  to  learn  will  take  from  five  to  ten 
times  as  long  to  learn  to  read  as  one  who  is  eager.  To  start  with  this 
live  interest  and  eager  desire  is  of  a  hundred  times  more  importance 
than  it  is  whether  you  use  the  word  method  or  the  alphabet  method. 
The  teacher  ought  to  read  a  good  deal  of  wholesome  and  interesting 
material  to  the  pupils  in  the  kindergarten  and  the  primary  school,  and 
she  ought  to  take  pains  to  read  well,  with  expression  and  appreciation. 
Then,  in  beginning,  let  her  take  some  story  with  the  substance  of 
which  the  pupils  are  already  familiar  (say  a  fairy  tale  or  a  rhyme  from 
Mother  Goose)  and  use  it  for  the  first  reading  lesson.  If  this  is  done, 
the  children  realize  what  reading  is,  viz.:  That  it  wUl  enable  them  to 
get  for  themselves  from  books  that  sort  of  material.  .  .  .  When  in 
this  and  other  ways  a  good  head  of  interest  has  been  turned  on,  the 
second  stage  will  be  rich  and  abundant  in  eager  attempts  to  imitate 
that  which  has  aroused  the  activity.  This  is  the  great  opportunity  for 
suggestion  and  for  indirect  teaching,  which  is  the  best  of  all  teaching. 

Helps  for  Teachers.  —  Teachers  seeking  practical  illustrations  of  the 
possibility  of  combining  the  teaching  of  reading,  writing,  and  drawing 
in  this  grade  will  find  them  in  recent  publications,  such  as,  Crosby's 
Our  Little  Book  for  Little  Folks  ;  The  Finch  Primer  ;  Baldwin's  School 
Reading  by  Grades — First  Year ;  Lane's  Stories  for  Children.  Book 
L  of  the  Heart  of  Oak  Series  contains  a  delightful  collection  of  Mother 
Goose  rhymes. 

Second  Grade  or  Year. 

Supplementary  Reading.  —  After  the  first  school  year 
it  should  be  the  aim  of  teachers  to  secure  the  very  best 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS 


209 


kind  of  supplementary  reading  matter  suited  to  the  wants 
and  needs  of  young  children.  Instead  of  repeated  reviews 
of  old  lessons,  children  should  have  new  books  'that  will 
awaken  fresh  interest.  As  soon  as  they  begin  to  read  a 
story  because  of  its  interest,  their  rapid  progress  is  assured, 
and  if  suitable  books  are  placed  in  their  hands  they  will 
read  a  great  deal  out  of  school.  Teachers  need  not  fear 
to  let  them  read  stories  that  contain  some  hard  words,  pro- 
vided the  stories  are  interesting.  The  Herbartian  princi- 
ple of  interest  applies  in  full  force  in  teaching  children  to 
read  during  their  first  three  years  of  school  life.  It  will 
be  well  for  the  teacher  to  make  an  experiment  by  select- 
ing, occasionally,  an  exceedingly  interesting  story,  making 
a  beginning  of  it  in  class,  and  then  putting  the  books  into 
the  hands  of  the  children  and  asking  them  to  finish  the 
story  at  their  desks  or  at  home.  It  is  always  a  mistake 
to  keep  children  long  at  work  on  short,  easy  sentences 
expressing  only  commonplace  thoughts  that  excite  no 
interest. 

An  illustration  may  serve  to  give  point  to  this  state- 
ment. I  know  of  one  little  fellow  who  learned  to  read  at 
home  before  he  was  six  years  old.  He  was  not  a  preco- 
cious boy.  His  grandmother  taught  him  his  letters  from 
nursery  picture  books.  In  some  way  or  other,  probably 
coached  by  his  grandmother,  he  learned  to  read  nursery 
rhymes.  At  length,  in  looking  at  the  pictures  in  a  copy 
of  the  St,  Nicholas,  he  became  interested  in  a  story  about 
the  "  London  Cats'  Meat  Man."  He  stuck  to  that  story 
for  three  weeks.  It  was  full  of  long  and  hard  words.  He 
gave  his  grandmother,  his  mother,  his  father,  and  his  elder 
sister  no  peace  until  he  had  read  that  four  page  story 
through.  After  he  had  mastered  it,  he  read  many  other 
stories  without  help  from  any  one.  When  six  years  old 
AM.  PUB.  scH. — 14 


210  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

he  went  to  school  and  was  put  into  the  primer  class.  At 
this  degradation  he  protested  so  vigorously  that  the 
thoughtful  young  teacher  tried  him  successively  in  reading 
from  a  second  reader,  a  third  reader,  and  a  fourth  reader, 
and  then  wisely  excused  him  from  the  primer  class. 

The  following  are  types  of  a  large  class  of  supplementary  books 
suitable  for  the  second  school  year :  Easy  Steps  for  Little  Feet ;  Heart 
of  Oak  Series,  Book  I ;  The  Hiawatha  Primer ;  Baldwin's  Fairy 
Stories  and  Fables ;  Baldwin's  Reading  by  Grades,  Second  Year ; 
Baldwin's  Fifty  Stories  Retold.  A  small  set  of  each  of  these,  or  of 
similar  books,  varying  in  number,  according  to  the  size  of  the  class, 
should  belong  to  the  school  library.  From  time  to  time  lend  these 
books  to  children  to  read  at  home.  If  there  is  no  school  library, 
teachers  should  secure  a  copy  of  each  of  these  books  for  their  desks. 

Spelling.  —  While  the  greater  part  of  spelling  is  learned 
by  reading  and  writing,  oral  spelling  should  not  be  entirely 
neglected.  An  occasional  oral  spelling  exercise  is  a  good 
thing  to  stir  up  a  class  that  has  become  weary  of  writing. 
Give  occasional  exercises,  both  oral  and  written,  in  spell- 
ing the  names  of  things  that  are  good  to  eat ;  of  articles 
of  home  or  school  use  ;  of  household  words,  etc.  In 
written  spelling,  train  pupils  to  write  short  sentences 
from  dictation,  and  to  copy  sentences  from  the  reading 
lessons. 

Pupils  should  not  be  required  to  spell  from  memory  all 
the  hard  words  of  their  reading  lessons,  because  their 
ability  to  read  words  runs  far  ahead  of  their  memory  to 
spell  them.  The  words  which  children  are  most  interested 
in  spelling  are  the  names  of  common  objects  at  home  or 
at  school ;  names  of  things  they  eat,  the  names  of  ani- 
mals, etc. 

For  Reference.  —  Teachers  who  may  wish  to  get  a  glimpse  of  what 
is  possible  within  the  range  of  story-telling  in  first  and  second  grades 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    21 1 

are  referred  to  Rice's  Course  of  Study  in  History  and  Literature,  and 
to  McMurry's  Course  of  Study  for  the  Eight  Grades. 

Third  and  Fourth  Grades. 

For  the  third  school  year,  the  basis  of  reading  should 
be  some  Second  or  Third  Reader,  to  which  should  be 
added  selections  from  suitable  supplementary  readers  or 
other  books  of  which  the  following  are  good  types : 
Scudder's  Fables  and  Folk  Stories,  Andrews'  Seven  Little 
Sisters,  Heart  of  Oak  Books,  Book  II.,  Baldwin's  Reading 
by  Grades,  Baldwin's  Old  Stories  of  the  East. 

During  the  fourth  school  year,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
Fourth  Reader,  supplementary  reading  may  be  extended, 
using  books  like  the  following:  Hans  Andersen's  Stories, 
Robinson  Crusoe,  Bass's  Nature  Stories,  Eggleston's 
True  Stories  of  American  Life  and  Adventure,  Bald- 
win's Reading  by  Grades. 

Fifth  and  Sixth  Grades, 

The  school  readers  officially  adopted  for  these  grades 
ought  to  contain  choice  selections  of  good  literature. 
For  supplementary  books  suitable  for  reading  at  home  or 
in  school,  teachers  are  referred  to  a  typical  list  at  the  end 
of  this  course.  In  addition  to  school  reading,  strive  to 
direct  home  reading.  If  pupils  have  access  to  a  public 
library,  suggest  interesting  books  for  them  to  read.  If 
there  is  no  library,  give  them  the  names  of  at  least  two 
good  books  that  they  ought  to  read ;  possibly  their 
parents  may  buy  them. 

Seventh  Grade, 

In  the  seventh  grade,  begin  to  call  the  attention  of  pupils 
to  the   structure   of  sentences  in  their  reading  lessons. 


212  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

Require  them  to  point  out  the  subjects  and  the  predicates 
in  sentences  selected  from  reading  lessons.  The  sooner 
children  learn  to  apply  what  they  have  learned  about  the 
structure  of  the  sentence  to  sentences  as  they  occur  in 
literature,  the  better  it  will  be  for  them.  Avoid  compli- 
cated forms  of  sentence  analysis,  and  eschew  diagrams. 
Among  the  books  selected  for  supplementary  reading  in 
school  or  at  home,  there  should  be  at  least  one  containing 
stories  of  American  history. 

Eighth  or  Ninth  Grade, 

In  the  highest  grammar  grade,  take  up  Gray's  Elegy, 
or  some  other  suitable  poem  for  special  study  of  grammar 
as  applied  to  literature.  Begin  the  study  of  figures  of 
speech,  particularly  simile,  metaphor,  and  personification. 
Lead  pupils  to  think  about  the  real  meaning  of  poetic 
forms  of  speech,  and  show  them  how  *'  parsing  "  becomes 
an  aid  in  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  long  and  involved 
sentences.  The  chief  use  of  sentence  analysis  and  parsing 
is  to  enable  pupils  better  to  comprehend  the  full  meaning 
and  force  of  literature. 

Home  Reading.  —  In  the  crowded  program  of  most 
schools,  it  will  not  be  possible  to  find  time  for  enough 
oral  reading  in  class  to  make  good  readers;  therefore, 
teachers  should  encourage  pupils  to  practice  reading  aloud 
at  home.  The  standard  of  good  reading  should  be  :  —  The 
ability  to  read  at  sight  both  prose  and  poetry  without 
mispronouncing  common  words,  without  stumbling  or 
hesitation,  or  the  repetition  of  words.  Stage  elocution  is 
not  expected. 

BOOKS. 

Every  school  library  ought  to  contain  several  sets  of 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    213 

supplementary  readers  or  leaflets  of  good  literature  for 
use  in  connection  with  the  standard  readers.  For  valuable 
hints  in  selection,  teachers  are  referred  to  Rice's  Course 
of  Study  in  History  and  Literature,  and  to  McMurry's 
Special  Method  for  Reading.. 

Commissioner  Harris  says  :  "  One  great  object  of  the  school  in  our 
time  is  to  teach  the  pupil  how  to  use  books  —  how  to  get  out  for  him- 
self what  there  is  for  him  in  the  printed  page.  The  man  who  cannot 
use  books  in  our  day  has  not  learned  the  lesson  of  self-help,  and  the 
wisdom  of  the  race  is  not  likely  to  become  his.  He  will  not  find,  in 
this  busy  age,  the  people  who  can  afford  to  stop  and  tell  him  by  oral 
instruction  what  he  ought  to  be  able  to  find  out  for  himself  by  the  use 
of  the  library  that  may  be  within  his  reach.  .  .  .  The  most  important  in- 
vestigation that  man  ever  learns  to  conduct  is  the  habit  of  learning  by 
industrious  reading  what  his  fellow-men  have  seen  and  thought." 

Ideals.  —  The  aim  in  the  common  schools  should  be  to  / 
make  known  to  pupils  the  proper  use  of  books  as  sources  / 
"of  knowledge,  and  at  the  same  time  to  inspire  a  love  for  ^ 
literature  which  shall   prove  a  life-long  means  of  inteW 
lectual  enjoyment  and  education.     *'  Our  ideal  should  be,"\ 
says  John  Dewey,  "that  the  child  should  have  a  personal 
interest  in  what  is  read,  a  personal  hunger  for  it,  and  a 
personal  power  of  satisfying  this  appetite." 

"  From  the  total  training  during  childhood,  "  ^  says  President  Eliot, 
of  Harvard,  "  there  should  result  in  the  child  a  taste  for  interesting  and 
improving  reading,  which  should  direct  and  inspire  its  subsequent  in- 
tellectual life.  That  schooling  which  results  in  this  taste  for  good 
reading,  however  unsystematic  or  eccentric  the  schooling  may  have 
been,  has  achieved  a  main  end  of  elementary  education ;  and  that 
schooling  which  does  not  result  in  implanting  this  permanent  taste  has 
failed.  Guided  and  animated  by  this  impulse  to  acquire  knowledge 
and  exercise  his  imagination  through  reading,  the  individual  will  con- 
tinue to  educate  himself  through  life.  Without  that  deep-rooted  im- 
pulsion he  will  soon  cease  to  draw  on  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  the 

1  "  Educational  Reform  "  (1898).  . 


214  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

past  and  the  new  resources  of  the  present,  and,  as  he  grows  older,  he 
will  live  in  a  mental  atmosphere  which  is  always  growing  thinner  and 
emptier." 

Caution.  —  It  is  possible  in  the  higher  grades  to  crowd 
too  much  of  even  the  best  Hterature  upon  the  immature 
minds  of  pupils.  In  the  lower  grades  it  is  quite  probable 
that  some  enthusiastic  teachers  carry  reading  to  the  ex- 
tremes which  have  so  long  characterized  the  endless  drill 
on  arithmetic  in  these  grades.  The  work  should  be  kept 
within  the  limits  of  enlightened  common  sense.  The 
danger  line  has  certainly  been  reached  in  the  mass  of 
Greek  and  Roman  and  Pagan  mythology  which  has 
recently  been  forced  into  the  lower  grades. 

On  this  point  Professor  John  Dewey  in  his  trenchant  paper  on 
"The  Primary  Education  Fetich  "^  says:  "We  have  to  take  into 
account  not  simply  the  results  produced  by  forcing  language-work 
unduly,  but  also  the  defects  in  development  due  to  the  crowding  out 
of  other  subjects.  Every  respectable  authority  insists  that  the  period 
of  childhood,  lying  between  the  years  of  four  and  eight  or  nine,  is  the 
plastic  period  in  sense  and  emotional  life.  What  are  we  doing  to 
shape  these  capacities  ?  What  are  we  doing  to  feed  this  hunger  }  If 
one  compares  the  powers  and  needs  of  the  child  in  these  directions 
with  what  is  actually  supplied  in  the  regimen  of  the  three  R's,  the 
contrast  is  pitiful,  tragic.  This  epoch  is  also  the  budding-time  for  the 
formation  of  efficient  and  orderly  habits  on  the  motor  side ;  it  is  pre- 
eminently the  time  when  the  child  wishes  to  do  things,  and  when  his 
interest  in  doing  can  be  turned  to  educative  account.  No  one  can 
clearly  set  before  himself  the  vivacity  and  persistency  of  the  child's 
motor  instincts  at  this  period^  and  then  call  to  mind  the  continued 
grind  of  reading  and  writing,  without  feeling  that  the  justification  of 
our  present  curriculum  is  psychologically  impc^ssible.  It  is  simply  a 
superstition ;  it  is  a  remnant  of  an  outgrown  period  of  history.  All 
this  might  be  true,  and  yet  there  might  be  no  subject-matter  suf- 
ficiently organized  for  introduction  into  the  school  curriculum,  since 

^  The  Forum^  May,  1 898. 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    215 

this  demands,  above  all  things,  a  certain  definiteness  of  presentation 
and  of  development.  But  we  are  not  in  this  unfortunate  plight. 
There  are  subjects  which  are  as  well  fitted  to  meet  the  child's  domi- 
nant needs  as  they  are  to  prepare  him  for  the  civilization  in  which  he 
has  to  play  his  part.  There  is  art  in  a  variety  of  modes  —  music, 
drawing,  painting,  modeling,  etc.  These  7nedia  not  only  afford  a 
regulated  outlet  in  which  the  child  may  project  his  inner  impulses 
and  feelings  in  outward  form,  and  come  to  consciousness  of  himself, 
but  are  necessities  in  existing  social  life." 

Books  for  Supplementary  Reading.  —  The  following  books  are  sug- 
gested for  supplementary  reading,  but  this  list  is  subject  to  amendment 
to-morrow  if  better  ones  appear  : 

(From  Fourth  to  Seventh  Grade.)  —Hawthorne's  Wonder  Book; 
Hawthorne's  Tanglewood  Tales  ;  Swiss  Family  Robinson ;  Robinson 
Crusoe  ;  Elliott's  Six  Stories  from  Arabian  Nights  ;  Baldwin's  Story 
of  the  Golden  Age  ;  De  Garmo's  Tales  of  Troy  ;  Jane  Andrews'  Ten 
Boys  on  the  Road  ;  Longfellow's  Children's  Hour ;  Holmes'  Grand- 
mother's Story  of  Bunker  Hill  Battle  ;  Eggleston's  Stories  of  Great 
Americans  for  Little  Americans;  Baldwin's  School  Reading  by 
Grades. 

Eighth  and  Ninth  Grades.  —  Longfellow's  Evangeline  ;  Dickens* 
Christmas  Carol ;  Julius  Caesar ;  Vicar  of  Wakefield  ;  Merchant  of 
Venice  ;  Baldwin's  Reading  by  Grades — Eighth  Year  ;  etc. 


HINTS  ON  CLASS  MANAGEMENT  IN  READING. 

While  the  leading  idea  throughout  the  whole  course  in 
teaching  the  art  of  reading  should  be  the  thought  side,  or 
the  quality  of  the  reading  matter,  the  "  mechanical-mental " 
side  of  the  art  must  always  remain  an  important  secondary- 
consideration.  The  extent  of  "  drill  work  "  in  this  direc- 
tion must  be  determined  by  the  skill  of  the  teacher  and 
the  ever-varying  needs  of  different  grades.  It  is  evident 
that  some  attention  must  be  given  to  vocal  training,  to 
correct  pronunciation,  to  emphasis,  and  to  inflection. 

Standard  in  Oral  Reading.  —  Pupils  should  be  trained 


2i6  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

to  avoid  a  high-pitched,  thin,  sharp,  unnatural,  school 
tone,  as  well  as  the  other  extreme  of  feebleness  and  in- 
distinctness. It  is  a  good  standard  to  require  each  pupil, 
except  those  in  the  first  and  second  grades,  to  read  so 
clearly  and  distinctly  that  all  the  class  can  hear  every 
word.  The  teacher  should  sometimes  listen  with  her  own 
book  closed.  In  the  lowest  grades  it  is  often  a  waste  of 
effort  to  try  to  make  timid  children  with  feeble  voices 
read  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  class. 

Vocal  Drill.  —  By  short  and  suitable  concert  exercises, 
pupils  should  be  trained  to  the  proper  use  of  the  lips, 
tongue,  and  teeth  in  distinct  articulation.  Occasional 
breathing  exercises  are  of  great  value  as  an  aid  in  securing 
an  erect  attitude  and  the  free  use  of  the  vocal  organs. 
Occasionally  give  a  drill  exercise  on  words  containing 
vowel  sounds,  giving  special  attention  to  those  sounds 
which  children  in  some  parts  of  our  country  are  apt  to 
give  incorrectly ;  such  as  a  in  half,  calf,  laugh,  etc. ;  inter- 
mediate a,  as  in  ask,  last,  past,  after,  etc. ;  u  after  r,  as  in 
truth,  rude,  fruit,  etc.  The  school  is  the  proper  place  for 
correcting  provincialisms  in  pronunciation.  Explain  the 
essential  diacritical  marks  of  the  school  dictionary  in  order 
that  pupils  may  be  able  to  find  out  for  themselves  the 
correct  pronunciation  of  words.  Train  pupils  to  refer  to 
the  dictionary  for  definitions  as  well  as  pronunciation. 

Oral  Expression.  —  In  the  highest  grammar  grade,  some 
special  attention  should  be  given  to  manner  of  expression. 
At  this  stage  of  progress  the  motive  of  the  pupil  should 
be,  not  merely  to  pronounce  words  correctly,  not  merely 
to  comprehend  the  thought  in  what  is  read,  but  to  make 
others  clearly  comprehend  the  thought,  feeling,  or  emotion 
in  what  is  read.  Good  oral  reading  does  not  necessarily 
involve   much    training    in    elocution.     Indeed,   what   is 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    217 

termed  "  stage  elocution  "  should  be  avoided  in  school 
reading. 

Choice  Extracts.  —  In  each  grade  throughout  the  entire 
course,  pupils  should  be  required  t'o  memorize  a  few  short 
extracts  of  prose  or  poetry  suited  to  their  successive  stages 
of  development.  The  recital  of  such  extracts  should 
occasionally  take  the  place  of  a  lesson  in  oral  reading. 

Correlation.  —  In  the  higher  grammar  grades  the  read- 
ing lesson  will  become  a  correlated  study  of  reading,  lan- 
guage, literature,  composition,  and  grammar,  in  varying 
degrees  according  to  the  skill  of  the  instructor  in  teaching 
the  language-arts,  and  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
reading  matter  in  use. 

Thought.  —  On  the  thought  side  of  reading,  it  is  evident 
that  for  the  first  three  or  four  years  in  school  the  teacher 
must  take  great  pains  in  showing  children  how  to  get  at 
the  thought  in  their  reading  lessons,  and  how  to  study  a 
lesson  at  home  or  in  school.  In  the  higher  grades  it  is 
usually  a  difficult  matter  to  lead  pupils  to  study  a  read- 
ing lesson  in  the  careful  manner  with  which  they  study 
a  lesson  in  arithmetic  or  geography.  In  most  school 
readers  there  are  some  selections  that  may  be  read  with 
little  or  no  study  ;  there  are  others  that  the  teacher  may 
study  with  the  class ;  and,  occasionally,  there  are  some 
which  pupils  should  study  by  themselves.  It  is  here  that 
the  good  judgment  of  the  teacher  must  be  her  own  guide, 
independent  of  hints  or  suggestions.  It  is  useless,  how- 
ever, for  any  teacher  to  expect  that  all  pupils  can  be  made 
to  comprehend,  in  full,  everything  in  all  the  literary  ex- 
tracts which  are  read  ;  some  children  will  assimilate  much, 
others  but  little.  It  will  be  well  for  every  teacher  to  call 
to  mind  whatever  she  can  recollect  of  her  own  school  ex- 
periences  when  she  was  of  the  same  age  as  her  pupils. 


2 1 8  APPLIED  PEDA  G  O  GICS 

II.    MODERN  WAYS  OF  TEACHING  PENMANSHIP. 

In  the  Beginning.  —  At  some  time  during  the  first 
school  year,  write  on  the  board  easy  words  and  short 
sentences  and  let  pupils  copy  them  on  slate  or  black- 
board. Little  children  like  blackboard  writing  in  large 
hand  because  the  teacher  and  the  class  can  see  their  work. 
Follow  these  lessons  by  slate-work  in  large,  easy,  run- 
ning hand.  Do  not  trouble  beginners  with  elements, 
principles,  or  analysis,  but  put  them  at  once  to  writing 
words  and  short  sentences.  In  fact,  as  said  before,  read- 
ing and  writing  ought  to  be  carried  along  together.  The 
capital  letters  are  no  harder  to  make  than  are  some  of  the 
small  letters.  In  blackboard  lessons,  see  that  your  pupils 
form  the  habit  of  holding  a  crayon  properly.  In  slate  writ- 
ing, train  pupils  to  hold  their  pencils  as  a  pen  is  held.  Oc- 
casionally give  a  drill  exercise  in  making  ovals,  running 
m*s,  etc.,  in  order  to  secure  freedom  of  arm-movements 
and  an  easy  way  of  holding  the  pencil.  Of  course  their 
first  attempts,  like  those  in  drawing,  will  be  rough,  crude, 
and  irregular,  as  naturally  they  should  be.  Above  all,  no 
attempt  should  be  made  to  force  children  during  the 
first  two  or  three  years  of  school  life  into  premature  accu- 
racy and  finish  of  handwriting. 

Give  special  attention  to  the  manner  of  placing  slates  or 
paper  upon  the  desk,  and  to  the  position  of  the  pupil  in 
writing.  Under  favorable  conditions  children  should 
occasionally  be  allowed  to  use  pen  and  paper  after  the 
first  six  months  in  school,  writing  in  a  large,  free,  and  easy 
hand. 

If  the  school  desks  are  not  too  high,  train  children  to 
use  the  forearm  movement  in  writing  with  pencils.  The 
difficulty  is  that  many   desks  are  so  high  that   no   arm 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    219 

movement  is  possible,  and  therefore  children  are  limited 
to  finger  movements,  which  are  slow  and  labored.  If  you 
are  allowed  liberty  to  experiment,  try  the  vertical  writing 
now  coming  into  extensive  use.  Do  not  sit  down  in  a 
chair  behind  your  table,  as  some  teachers  do,  but  go 
about  among  your  pupils,  place  their  slates  or  books  prop- 
erly, take  hold  of  their  rigid  fingers,  and  show  them  how 
to  hold  a  pen  easily.  Do  not  expect  to  secure  exact  uni- 
formity in  holding  the  pen,  but  make  allowance  for  the 
natural  tendency  of  the  child. 

Free  Hand.  —  Train  pupils  from  the  beginning  to  write 
with  a  free  and  ready  movement,  instead  of  the  slow, 
constrained,  rigid,  snail-like  tracing  that  so  often  prevails 
in  school.  Do  not  attempt  to  make  the  older  pupils 
write  a  uniform  "  copy-book  hand,"  but  let  them  form 
their  own  characteristic  style.  The  main  object  is  to 
make  them  write  legibly,  easily,  and  rapidly. 

Standard,  —  The  standard  should  be  to  write  a  legible 
hand  fast  enough  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  life.  There 
should  be  no  attempt  to  teach  a  delicately  shaded,  orna- 
mental handwriting  like  that  of  a  special  teacher  of 
penmanship. 

Copy  Books.  —  The  conventional  method  of  learning  to 
write,  which  prevailed  until  recently,  involved  the  use  of 
a  series  of  graded  copy  books,  consisting  of  from  six  to 
ten  successive  numbers.  Children  were  required  to  fill 
out,  slowly  and  painfully,  each  half  year,  one  of  these 
copy  books,  striving  to  imitate  the  elaborate,  delicately- 
shaded  and  hair-line  penmanship  of  the  copy.  This 
kind  of  writing  was  painfully  slow  in  execution.  A  great 
deal  of  time  was  wasted  in  vainly  trying  to  make  all 
pupils  learn  to  write  a  fancy  style  of  penmanship.  The 
introduction  into  the  school  course  of  written  exercises  in 


220  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

the  various  school  studies  has  already  compelled,  not  only 
a  reduction  in  the  number  of  copy  books  but  also  a  change 
to  a  simpler  style  of  penmanship,  bearing  some  resem- 
blance to  the  business  handwriting  of  practical  life. 

In  many  city  schools  engraved  copy  books  are  but 
little  used  during  the  first  three  and  in  the  last  two  years 
of  the  course,  thus  limiting  drill  in  copy-book  lessons  to 
the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  grades  or  years.  In  such 
schools,  indeed,  writing  is  mainly  taught  incidentally  in 
connection  with  written  exercises  in  the  various  school 
studies.  The  result  is  a  saving  of  about  one  half  of  the 
conventional  time  generally  allotted  to  writing. 

Illustration.  —  As  superintendent  of  schools  in  a  large 
city,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  result  of  an 
experiment  in  teaching  writing  in  a  large  grammar  school 
which  included  primary  grades.  The  principal  was  author- 
ized to  dispense  with  copy  books  or  to  use  them  as  she 
pleased,  and  to  teach  vertical  or  slant  handwriting  as  she 
selected. 

At  the  end  of  eight  months,  I  visited  a  first  grade  class 
engaged  in  writing  short  sentences  from  dictation.  The 
children  were  writing  with  lead  pencils  on  rough,  unruled 
paper,  in  an  easy,  flowing,  legible,  vertical  hand.  In  the 
fifth  grade,  the  penmanship  was  good  enough  for  all 
practical  purposes  in  life,  and  very  few  special  lessons  in 
penmanship  were  required  in  grades  higher  than  this.  In 
the  whole  school  the  transition  from  slant  writing  to 
vertical  had  been  made,  to  the  delight  of  the  children. 
There  had  been  no  striving  after  fancy  penmanship,  but 
in  good  writing  the  school  as  a  whole  ranked  among  the 
best  in  the  city. 

Under  the  method  pursued,  there  had  been  a  great 
saving  of  time,  and  this  extra  time  had  been  given  to  free- 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS    221^ 

hand  drawing  from  objects  such  as  leaves,  plants,  vines, 
flowers,  and  figure  drawing.  Some  of  the  middle  grade 
classes  were  skillful  in  the  use  of  water  colors,  and  all  were 
delighted  with  their  work.  In  the  higher  grammar  grades, 
the  written  exercises  in  the  various  school  studies  were 
dispatched  in  half  the  time  required  in  most  other  schools. 
Psychological  Principles.  —  In  the  Second  Year  Book 
of  the  National  Herbart  Society  (1896),  there  is  an  ex- 
haustive paper  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Lukens,  on  race  and  indi- 
vidual development,  illustrated  by  reading,  writing,  and 
drawing.     In  relation  to  writing  he  says  : 

"  But  a  candid  observation  of  facts  would  lead  one  to  agree  with 
Rousseau,  Compe,  Graser,  Scripture,  and  a  host  of  other  German  and 
American  teachers  who,  regarding  only  the  child's  normal  develop- 
ment and  noting  the  increasing  nervousness,  injury  to  the  eyes,  and 
poor  writing  combined,  proclaim  with  emphasis  that  the  normal  nas- 
cent period  for  learning  penmanship  is  from  nine  to  thirteen,  and 
not  earlier.  Certainly  this  is  the  period  when  the  handwriting  is 
acquiring  its  individuality  and  the  writing  habits  are  getting  their  set. 
Hence  practice  and  drill  on  regularity  of  slant,  uniformity  of  height 
and  shading,  and  gracefulness  of  outline  will  now  be  most  effective 
and  lasting.  .  .  .  To  potter  along  with  sixty  minutes  a  week  spread 
out  through  eight  or  nine  years  is  to  dissipate  all  interest  and  all 
lasting  results  in  motor  training.  The  Committee  of  Fifteen  very 
wisely  drops  it  out  of  the  curriculum  after  the  sixth  grade,  but  for 
reasons  stated  above,  very  unwisely  assign  the  drill  period  in  penman- 
ship to  the  first  and  second  school  years,  instead  of  the  fifth  and 
sixth." 

Professor  John  Dewey,  of  the  department  of  philosophy  and  peda- 
gogics in  the  University  of  Chicago,  in  a  recent  article  on  "  The 
Primary  Education  Fetich,"^  speaks  of  primary  school  writing  as 
follows  :  •'  There  is  an  order  in  which  sensory  and  motor  centers 
develop,  —  an  order  expressed,  in  a  general  way,  by  saying  that  the 
line  of  progress  is  from  the  larger,  coarser  adjustments  having  to  do 
with  the  bodily  system  as  a  whole  (those  nearest  the  trunk  of  the 

1  The  Forum,  May,  1898. 


222  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

body)  to  the  finer  and  accurate  adjustments  having  to  do  with  the 
periphery  and  extremities  of  the  organism.  To  violate  this  law  means 
undue  nervous  strain  ;  it  means  putting  the  greatest  nervous  tension 
upon  the  centers  least  able  to  do  the  work.  The  act  of  writing  — 
especially  in  the  barbarous  fashion,  long  current  in  the  school,  of 
compelling  the  child  to  write  on  ruled  lines  in  a  small  hand  and  with 
the  utmost  attainable  degree  of  accuracy — involves  a  nicety  and  com- 
plexity of  adjustments  of  muscular  activity  which  can  be  definitely 
appreciated  only  by  the  specialist.  Forcing  children  at  a  premature 
age  to  devote  their  entire  attention  to  these  refined  and  cramped 
adjustments  has  left  behind  it  a  sad  record  of  injured  nervous  sys- 
tems and  of  muscular  disorders  and  distortions." 

Summary.  —  Combining  the  imperative  conditions  in 
large  public  schools  with  the  results  of  modern  psycho- 
logical investigations,  it  seems  safe  to  say  that,  during  the 
first  three  or  four  years  in  school,  children  should  learn  to 
write  an  easy  hand  with  comparatively  little  drill  in  exact 
uniformity  of  style ;  that  the  next  two  years  should  be 
the  period  of  drill  in  slant  and  proportion  to  fix  the  hand- 
writing ;  and  that  thereafter  the  training  in  penmanship 
should  be  incidental  in  connection  with  written  school  ex- 
ercises. It  seems  safe  to  say,  further,  that  in  the  future 
when  pupils  shall  be  trained,  in  accordance  with  psycho- 
logical principles,  to  learn  reading,  writing,  and  drawing 
carried  along  together,  better  results  will  be  obtained  with 
less  waste  of  time,  in  each  of  the  three  branches. 

III.   MODERN  WAYS  OF  TRAINING  IN  ORTHOGRAPHY. 

The  Spelling  Book.  —  In  the  district  school  of  a  century 
ago,  spelling  was  studied  from  the  columns  of  a  spelling 
book  and  recited  orally  in  class,  with  little  or  no  attention 
to  the  meaning  or  use  of  words.  Written  spelling  was 
unknown.     For  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century,  Web- 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS     223 

ster's  Spelling  Book  (1783),  held  almost  undisputed  sway 
in  American  schools.  It  was  undoubtedly  a  great  aid  in 
securing  correct  pronunciation  in  schools  at  a  time  when 
a  dictionary  was  a  rare  possession  ;  but  its  method,  not- 
withstanding, was  formal,  logical,  mechanical,  and  un- 
psychological.  Yet  it  is  not  wise  to  underrate  the  edu- 
cational  usetulness  of  this  famous  schoolbook  during  the 
long  period  which  elapsed  before  it  was  superseded  by 
something  better.  It  at  least  secured  a  regular  and  rigid 
drill,  and  enlarged  to  some  extent  the  vocabuTa^bf  the 
several  generations  that  toiled  over  it. 

When  graded  reading  books  made  their  appearance  and 
teachers  began  to  require  various  written  exercises  in 
school  studies,  the  spelling  book  fell  into  disrepute ;  and 
in  many  schools  it  was  dropped  out  altogether.  But  the 
experiment  of  dispensing  entirely  with  formal  lessons  in 
spelling  proved  unsatisfactory,  and  a  modified  spelling 
book  was  restored  in  the  form  of  numerous  Word  Primers 
and  Word  Books,  the  type  of  which  was  largely  deter- 
mined by  Swinton's  Word  Book  Series  (1873). 

How  Spelling  is  Learned.  —  Spelling  is  mainly  learned 
in  reading,  in  writing  compositions,  and  by  other  written 
school  exercises  ;  but  the  great  majority  of  teachers  find 
it  desirable  to  supplement  this  indirect  and  incidental 
training  by  the  study  of  a  modern  word  book  which  in- 
cludes elementary  defining  and  more  or  less  of  word  an- 
alysis, or  a  study  of  prefixes,  suffixes,  and  definitions. 

Oral  Spelling.  —  Make  some  use  of  oral  spelling  to  train 
the  ear  as  well  as  the  eye,  and  to  secure  careful  pronun- 
ciation. Written  spelling,  if  used  exclusively,  becomes 
wearisome  to  pupils.  Allow  the  class,  occasionally,  to 
"  choose  sides  "  and  have  a  spelling  match,  thus  appealing 
to    good-natured    emulation.      In   oral   spelling,    require 


224  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

pupils  to  pause  in  spelling  after  each  syllable  to  show  the 
division  into  syllables ;  but  do  not  require  each  syllable  to 
be  pronounced  separately. 

Text-Book.  —  If  a  word  book  or  a  spelling  book  is  re- 
quired by  the  official  course  of  study,  make  the  best  pos- 
sible use  of  it.  Swinton's  Word  Primer  and  Word  Book 
may  prove  helpful  for  supplementary  purposes. 

Correcting  Papers.  — After  a  lesson  in  written  spelling 
let  pupils  exchange  papers  and  correct  the  spelling  in  one 
another's  papers.  This  exercise  in  criticism  is  one  of  the 
most  profitable  of  spelling  lessons. 

Word  Study.  —  The  teaching  of  spelling  should  be  so 
conducted  as  to  unfold  something  of  the  meaning  of 
words,  and  something  of  the  formation  of  derivative  from 
primitive  words  and  roots.  The  exercise  then  becomes 
a  part  of  good  intellectual  training,  instead  of  a  blind 
effort  of  memory. 

Defining.  —  It  is  not  wise  to  require  pupils  to  give  for- 
mal definitions  of  words  when  the  meaning  is  already  well 
enough  known.  Pupils  should  be  trained  at  an  early  age 
to  the  habit  of  referring  to  the  school  dictionary  for  defi- 
nitions. Mark  any  difficult  words  in  the  advance  reading ' 
lesson,  and  require  pupils  to  find  out  the  dictionary  defi- 
nitions. Give  out,  once  or  twice  a  week,  a  list  of  five 
words  to  be  defined  at  the  next  lesson.  Exact  and  full 
definitions  should  be  required,  in  general,  only  from  ad- 
vanced pupils,  when  they  have  gained  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  frame  definitions.  A  simple  explanation  of 
the  ?^^^  of  a  word  is  often  better  than  a  formal  dictionary 
definition.  Beware  of  defining  a  word  by  means  of  a 
synonym  equally  incomprehensible. 

Waste.  —  Learning  to  spell  the  English  language  is  a 
long-continued  and  laborious  task,  and  there  is  little  reason 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS 


225 


to  expect  that  the  irregular  orthography  of  our  mother 
tongue  will  ever  be  so  reformed  that  spelling  will  be  made 
easy.  The  chief  waste  of  time  in  school  consists  in  re- 
quiring children  to  attempt  to  learn  to  spell  words  which 
are  entirely  outside  of  their  possible  vocabulary. 

IV.  MODERN  THOUGHT   ON  ELEMENTARY   DRAWING. 

Practical  Value  of  Drawing.  —  The  general  introduc- 
tion of  drawing  into  both  country  schools  and  city  schools 
marks  one  of  the  most  notable  means  of  enriching  the 
course  of  study.  Drawing  has  become  a  special  aid  in 
nature  study.  It  is  a  source  of  unfailing  pleasure  and  in- 
terest to  children  ;  it  lies  at  the  foundation  of  manual 
training ;  it  is  an  important  aid  in  the  study  of  geography 
and  history.  Finally,  it  affords  an  aesthetic  training  that 
will  make  life  pleasanter  and  happier. 

Hindrances.  —  The  limitations  to  which  most  teachers 
are  subjected  I  fully  understand,  having  been  subject  to 
them  myself  during  many  years  of  teaching.  Wherever 
'*  a  system  of  drawing "  has  been  ofificially  adopted  by 
boards  of  education  or  school  trustees,  teachers  must 
master  the  directions  and  require  pupils  to  fill  out  each 
successive  number  of  the  drawing  books,  whether  the 
system  be  good  or  bad.  Unfortunately,  the  general  intro- 
duction into  elementary  schools  —  some  twenty  years 
ago — of  formal  systems  of  industrial,  or  geometrical,  or 
mechanical,  or  design  drawing,  proved  unsatisfactory  in 
results.  Even  the  employment  of  large  numbers  of  special 
teachers  failed  to  awaken  any  vital  interest  in  drawing. 
The  system  pursued  in  technical  art  schools  for  older 
pupils  or  adults  cannot  profitably  be  applied  to  the  lower 

grades  in  public  schools. 
AM.  PUB.  scH. — 15. 


226  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

But  whatever  may  be  the  limitations  of  the  adopted 
course  of  study,  it  is  possible  for  teachers  to  supplement 
the  required  work  with  various  exercises  in  drawing 
adapted  in  some  measure  to  the  successive  culture  epochs 
of  young  children. 

Practical  Hints  and  Suggestions.  —  Drawing,  as  a 
means  of  expression,  should  begin  with  the  first  lessons 
in  reading  and  writing  and  should  be  carried  along  hand 
in  hand  with  both.  Drawing,  indeed,  is  a  primitive  mode 
of  expression  which  preceded  the  invention  of  letters. 
It  is  in  accordance  with  psychological  method  that  .the 
first  efforts  of  children  should  be  directed  to  rude  drawing 
rather  than  to  writing. 

The  primary  children  may  be  sent  to  the  blackboard  to 
copy  something  drawn  by  the  teacher,  or  to  indulge  their 
fancy  by  drawing  whatever  they  choose.  Children  do  not 
hesitate  to  attempt  houses,  trees,  hills,  dogs,  and  the 
human  figure.  They  prefer  blackboard  drawing  with 
crayons  to  exercises  on  slates  or  paper,  because  their  draw- 
ings are  on  a  larger  scale.  Besides,  teachers  and  pupils 
can  see  the  pictures.  Direct  their  feeble  efforts,  but  leave 
full  play  to  individuality.  One  child  may  take  to  flowers, 
another  to  boats  and  ships,  a  third  to  houses,  and  a  fourth 
to  horses. 

Allow  pupils  from  the  beginning  to  attempt  drawing ' 
from  real  objects  instead  of  from  pictures  on  the  flat. 
Drawing  a  leaf  from  the  flat  copy  is  only  a  makeshift  com- 
pared with  sketching  the  outline  of  a  real  leaf  placed  on 
the  desk  right  before  the  eyes  of  the  child.  Drawing  a 
house  from  the  flat  copy  may  secure  a  slow  and  painful 
accuracy  and  finish,  but  the  process  is  dead  drudgery  com- 
pared with  the  attempt  to  make  a  crude  outline  of  a  real 
house. 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS 


227 


The  most  attractive  and  most  profitable  exercises  in 
drawing  will  be  those  made  in  connection  with  oral  lessons 
in  elementary  natural  science,  or  with  geography,  or  with 
history.     Here  drawing  supplements  writing. 

Dr.  Lukens  presents  the  subject  psychologically  as  follows  :  "  In 
the  course  in  drawing,  (as  in  writing)  the  same  three  stages  should  no 
doubt  be  provided  for.  In  kindergarten  and  primary  schools  abun- 
dance of  pictures  and  models  should  be  on  hand  and  should  be  made 
use  of  in  every  subject.  Then  comes  the  second  transitional  play  stage 
of  imitation  and  suggestibility  before  the  skill  of  hand  and  the  right 
attitude  of  mind  for  artistic  production  are  developed.  During  this 
time  drawing  seems  properly  merely  a  -language  for  expressing  ideas, 
and  should  be  so  used  in  connection  with  all  the  other  subjects  of 
study.  Diagrams,  illustrated  stories,  and  pictures  of  everything  the 
children  are  interested  in,  will  be  the  natural  and  pedagogical  course 
as  opposed  to  the  systematic  course,  now  so  universal,  and  yet  so 
out  of  place  in  the  lower  grades.  At  about  ten  years  of  age,  Barnes 
thinks,  (and  all  the  others  who  have  made  special  studies  of  the  sub- 
ject seem  to  agree  with  him)  the  child  may  with  profit  take  up  the 
technique  of  drawing,  or  its  grammar  and  rhetoric,  as  he  calls  it."  ^ 

At  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  then,  pupils  having  had 
this  preliminary  training  may  begin  to  learn  the  technique 
of  drawing.  At  the  right  time,  geometrical,  mechanical, 
and  instrumental,  and  design  drawing  may  be  made  both 
interesting  and  useful. 

As  my  ideal  of  natural  free-hand  drawing  in  an  ele- 
mentary school,  I  have  in  mind  a  grammar  school  for 
girls,  which  also  included  primary  grades,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco. For  the  purpose  of  experiment,  this  school  was 
excepted  from  the  conventional  "  system  "  required  in 
other  schools,  and  the  principal  and  teachers  were  given 
full  liberty  to  teach  drawing  according  to  psychological 
principles.  In  the  first  and  second  grades,  the  children 
began  by  drawing  from  real  objects  placed  on  their  desks, 

^  The  Second  Year  Book  of  the  National  Herbart  Society  (1896). 


228  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

such  as  a  leaf,  a  fern,  or  a  spray  of  ivy,  or  a  flower,  or  a 
specimen  of  fruit.  Their  work  was  free  and  easy,  but  it 
was  followed  up  with  the  keenest  interest.  In  the  third 
grade  their  work  showed  artistic  taste.  In  the  fourth 
grade  they  were  painting  flowers  in  water  colors.  In  the 
next  two  grades  the  girls  could  look  out  of  the  windows 
and  sketch  a  city  street  in  perspective,  or  make  a  good  out- 
line of  Telegraph  Hill.  In  the  two  higher  grades,  they 
could  make  in  fifteen  minutes  a  good  sketch  of  a  human 
figure  drawn  from  a  little  girl  perched  on  the  teacher's 
desk.  An  atmosphere  of  artistic  taste  pervaded  the 
whole  school.  Drawing  was  a  perennial  source  of  de- 
light. The  teachers  as  well  as  the  pupils  were  enthusi- 
astic. 


V.  VOCAL  MUSIC  AS  A  MEANS  OF  CULTURE. 

Fifty  years  ago,  in  country  schools,  singing  was  the 
exception,  not  the  rule,  and  in  city  schools  the  instruc- 
tion in  music  was  meager  and  unsatisfactory.  Now,  in 
most  large  cities  a  special  teacher  is  employed  to  super- 
vise and  direct  the  teaching  of  music.  It  is  the  exception 
to  find  a  rural  school  in  which  singing  is  not  a  daily  exer- 
cise. 

The  kindergarten  schools  afford  a  good  illustration  of 
the  extent  to  which  rote  singing  can  be  carried  with 
young  children  before  they  learn  to  read.  The  number 
of  songs  which  these  little  children  memorize  and  sing  is 
a  marvelous  proof  of  the  retentive  memory  of  early  child- 
hood. In  the  kindergarten,  the  songs  are  selected  with 
special  reference  to  melody ;  and  the  children  act  them 
out  by  movement  and  gesture  while  singing  them  by 
words.     The  songs  best  adapted  for  children  in  the  first 


PEDAGOGICS  IN  MODERN  GRADED  SCHOOLS 


229 


two  years  in  the  primary  school  will  be  found  in  the  vari- 
ous publications  of  kindergarten  songs. 

The  extent  to  which  formal  instruction  in  music  and 
singing  by  note  can  be  carried  in  small  rural  schools  must 
be  determined  according  to  conditions.  But  singing  by 
rote  or  by  note  is  an  essential  school  exercise. 

Apart  from  its  great  value  as  a  means  of  aesthetic  cul- 
ture, singing  is  one  important  means  of  cultivating 
the  voice  for  expression  in  speech  and  in  oral  reading. 
In  the  recital  of  poetry,  there  is  always  a  touch  of  the 
rhythm,  melody,  and  harmony  of  song.  The  power- 
ful effect  of  school  singing  in  stimulating  the  emotions 
is  universally  recognized.  It  is  impossible  to  over-esti- 
mate the  stimulus  to  patriotism  resulting  from  the  long- 
continued  singing  during  the  whole  school  course  of 
such  songs  as  "  America,"  the  "  Battle  Hymn  of  the  Re- 
public," "  Rally  Round  the  Flag,  Boys,"  and  other  na- 
tional songs  and  hymns.  How  much  dearer  has  home 
been  made  to  us  all  by  the  singing  of  ''  Home,  Sweet 
Home  !  "  How  many  friendships  have  been  made  stronger 
by  the  singing  of  "  Auld  Lang  Syne  !  " 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  ART  OF  TEACHING  LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 

Grammar.  —  Within  the  last  twenty  years  the  use  of 
a  formal  text-book  on  grammar  has  come  to  be  limited  in 
the  best  schools  to  the  last  two  years  of  the  grammar- 
school  course.     The  general  introduction  of  written  exer- 
cises and  written  examinations,  the  written  work  in  ele- 
mentary science,  in  history,  in  geography,  and  in  letter- 
writing —  all  lend  their  aid  in  training  children  to  acquire 
the  habit  of  using  language  with  some  degree  of  "  correct- 
ness and  propriety,"  without  the  study  of  grammar.     This 
is   the  natural   method  of  development.     In  the  lower 
grammar  grades,  the  formal  text-book  on  grammar  has 
been  superseded  by  "  Language  Lessons,"  in  which  the 
simpler  parts  of  grammar  are  taken  in  connection  with 
written  sentence  work  and  composition. 
^  The  variety  of  good  reading  matter  now  available  for 
/^school  children   is  undoubtedly  an  important    factor  in 
/     training  them  to  speak  and  write  their  mother  tongue. 
/      But  most  teachers  will    admit   that   somewhere  in   the 
Y     school  course  there  must  be  some  formal  study  of  gram- 
\  mar.     Colonel  Parker,  who  cannot  be  classed  as  a  conserv- 
ative, remarks  in  his  Talks  on  Pedagogics  :  "  Whenever 
and  wherever,  throughout  the  course,  a  part  of  speech,  a 
fact  of  etymology,  a  definition,  an  explanation,  a  rule,  or 
general  direction,  a  lesson  in  parsing  or  analysis,  will  di- 
rectly assist  pupils  in  comprehending  or  adequately  ex- 

230 


LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 


231 


pressing  thought,  any  and  every  detail  of  grammar  should 
be  freely  presented  and  freely  used." 

There  is  little  difference  of  opinion  about  the  high 
value  of  a  careful  study  of  grammar  in  secondary  schools. 
Sentence  analysis  is  a  logical  study  of  the  forms  of 
thought.  The  study  of  English  syntax  increases  the 
power  of  interpreting  thought  in  literature.  It  affords 
the  student  a  standard  of  self-criticism  in  a  careful  revi- 
sion of  his  own  writing.  It  opens  the  mind  to  the  great 
lines  of  thought  in  logic,  rhetoric,  and  philosophy. 

A  knowledge  of  grammar  is  essential  to  a  full  appreciar_ 
tion  of  the  masterpieces  of  literature.  With  advanced 
pupils,  the  right  study  of  grammar  is  a  means  of  mental 
discipline  fully  equal  to  that  of  mathematics.  ''  I  hold," 
says  Tyndall,  "  that  the  proper  study  of  language  is  an 
intellectual  discipline  of  the  highest  kind.  The  piercing 
through  the  involved  and  inverted  sentences  of  *  Paradise 
Lost ' ;  the  linking  of  the  verb  to  its  often  distant  nom- 
inative, of  the  relative  to  its  distant  antecedent,  of  the 
agent  to  the  object  of  the  transitive  verb,  of  the  preposi- 
tion to  the  noun  or  pronoun  which  it  governed  ;  the  study 
of  variations  in  mood  and  tense ;  the  transformations  often 
necessary  to  bring  out  the  true  grammatical  structure 
of  a  sentence  —  all  this  was  to  my  young  mind  a  discipline 
of  the  highest  value,  and,  indeed,  a  source  of  unflagging 
delight." 

But  the  unsettled  point  in  dispute  is  the  extent  to  which 
the  teat  king  of  g  7  ammar' can  profitably  be  carried  in  iJie 
elementary  course  of  study  in  the  common  schools.  There 
has  been  a  general  revolt  against  the  ''  Murray  type  "  of 
text-books ;  against  Latinized  parsing,  and  against  the 
hair-splitting  refinements  of  sentence  analysis.  As  a  nat- 
ural result,  many  teachers  have  been  led  to  the  opposite 


232 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


extreme  of  advocating  no  instruction  whatever  in  techni- 
cal grammar  below  the  high  school  grades.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  are  many  schools  in  which  the  Murray  type 
of  grammar  still  reigns  supreme.  Teachers  who  were 
themselves  trained  under  the  old  regime  cling  to  the 
forms  of  parsing  and  sentence  analysis  with  which  they 
have  grown  familiar.  They  greatly  overestimate  the  value 
of  text-book  grammar  to  the  great  majority  of  common 
school  pupils,  who  leave  school  at  fifteen  or  sixteen  years 
of  age.  In  consequence  of  educational  bias,  they  under- 
estimate the  worth  of  composition  work  and  language 
training.  Having  become  grammatical  experts  by  drill 
in  teaching  parsing  and  analysis  for  many  years,  they 
unconsciously  assume  that  this  kind  of  training  is  of  ines- 
timable value  to  their  pupils. 

Language  Teaching.  —  The  general  method  in  language 
teaching  pursued  in  a  majority  of  graded  schools  at  the 
present  time  may  be  briefly  stated  as  follows : 

1.  During  the  first  three  years  of  school  life,  reading, 
story-telling,  and  easy  exercises  in  sentence-making  and 
composition-writing. 

2.  For  the  next  three  years,  the  beginning  of  literature 
in  supplementary  reading ;  the  writing  of  compositions  in 
connection  with  nature  study,  history  lessons,  literature, 
and  geography ;  and  the  use  of  some  text-book  on 
language  lessons. 

3.  During  the  last  two  years  of  the  course,  the  study 
of  some  formal  text-book  on  grammar ;  reading  of  a  dis- 
tinctly literary  character  ;  composition-writing  on  topics 
correlated  with  school  work. 

Hints  and  Suggestions  on  Methods  of  Teaching  — 
Language  Lessons.  —  In  the  lower  grades,  language  les- 
sons and  composition  work  constitute  the  best  means  of 


LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 


233 


acquiring  a  ready  and  correct  use  of  language,  which 
usage,  in  its  turn,  becomes  a  sound  basis  for  the  study  of 
formal  grammar.  As  children  learn  to  speak  good  Eng- 
lish by  hearing  it  spoken  in  school  or  at  home,  so  they 
learn  to  write  good  English  only  by  continued  practice  in 
writing  under  the  direction  and  criticism  of  teachers.  As 
a  guide  to  first  lessons  in  this  work  Swinton's  Talking 
With  the  Pencil  (1898)  will  be  of  value. 

Stories.  —  It  is  one  of  the  best  of  exercises  to  let  chil- 
dren reproduce  from  memory,  in  their  own  words,  stories 
told  them  by  the  teacher,  or  which  they  themselves  have 
read.  In  this  way  writing  becomes  a  pleasure  instead  of 
a  task.  Originality  in  thought  ought  not  to  be  expected 
of  children. 

Letter- Writing.  —  One  of  the  most  practical  of  all  ex- 
ercises is  letter-writing.  As  soon  as  children  can  write  at 
all,  they  ought  to  be  trained  to  write  a  short  letter.  In 
every  grade  during  the  whole  course,  repeated  exercises 
in  letter-writing  should  be  given,  so  that  on  leaving 
school  every  child  should  be  able  to  write  a  letter  neatly 
and  correctly, 

In  the  best  of  modern  schools  the  work  in  composition 
is  mainly  done  in  connection  with  nature  studies,  oral 
lessons  in  history,  and  lessons  in  geography.  In  this  way 
writing  becomes  a  pleasure.  The  work  in  composition  is 
in  accord  with  the  pupils'  mental  equipment.  In  order  to 
learn  the  art  of  expression,  children  must  have  definite 
thoughts  to  express.  There  is  a  general  consensus  of 
opinion  among  modern  teachers  that  writing  the  English 
language  is  an  art  which  must  be  learned  by  actual,p.rac- 
tice  in  written  composition,  rather  than  by  the  study  of  a 
text-book  on  grammar. 

Formal  Grammar.  —  In  the  grammar  grade  next  to 


234 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


the  highest,  that  is,  in  the  seventh  or  eighth  school  year, 
if  a  formal  text-book  on  grammar  is  taken  up,  teachers 
should  first  give  their  attention  to  the  essential  parts  of 
etymology,  assuming  that  pupils  have  previously  learned 
something  about  the  sentence.  Special  attention  should 
be  given  to  personal  pronouns,  to  verb-forms  and  the 
tenses,  to  irregular  verbs,  to  participles  and  infinitives. 

The  forms  for  parsing  should  be  brief  and  simple, 
limited,  in  the  main,  to  the  construction  that  is,  the  use 
of  the  word  in  the  sentence.  For  example,  in  the  sen- 
tence, "  America  has  furnished  to  the  world  the  character 
of  Washington,"  it  is  quite  enough  to  say:  ^^ America  is 
a  proper  noun,  subject  of  the  verb  has  furnished  ;  has 
furnished  is  a  verb  in  the  present  perfect  tense,  agreeing 
with  the  subject  America ;  world  is  a  common  noun,  ob- 
ject of  the  preposition  to,''  etc. 

Sentence  analysis,  free  from  technicalities  and  diagrams, 
may  profitably  be  correlated  with  parsing.  It  is  sheer 
waste  of  time  to  parse  every  word  in  a  sentence.  Select 
from  a  reading  lesson  only  the  words  that  are  most  im- 
portant in  the  structure  of  a  sentence,  or  that  are  placed 
out  of  their  regula  rorder ;  e.  g.  in  the  sentence,  "  Their 
furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke,"  —  parse  glebe ; 
"  Now  fades  the  glimmering  landscape  on  the  sight,"  — 
parse  landscape. 

The  ancient  Latinized  models  involve  too  great  waste 
of  time  for  modern  school  use.  Such  endless  repetitions 
of  definitions  and  grammatical  terminology  result  neither 
in  "  logical  training "  nor  in  readiness  of  expression. 
Sentence  analysis,  —  limited,  is  useful,  but,  when  carried 
to  extremes,  it  becomes  a  dead  formalism,  quite  as  unat- 
tractive to  pupils  as  was  the  old-time  parsing.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  teachers  carry  parsing  and  sentence  analysis 


LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR         235 

must  be  modified  by  their  school  environment,  or  their 
school  text-books,  or  the  examinations  to  which  their 
pupils  are  subjected.  Comparatively  few  teachers  are 
free  agents  to  determine  their  course  of  instruction  for 
themselves. 

Syntax.  —  In  the  highest  grammar  grade,  the  subject 
of  syntax  may  be  taken  up,  limiting  the  work  mainly  to 
the  half  dozen  rules  that  have  the  closest  practical  rela- 
tion to  the  writing  of  English.  In  this  grade  literary 
study  should  be  combined  with  grammatical  study.  Sup- 
pose, for  instance,  the  class  were  to  take  up  Gray's 
Elegy,  one  of  the  most  elaborate  of  Short  poems  in  the 
English  language.  This  study  would  involve  a  wide 
range  of  thought.  The  poem  is  full  of  figurative  expres- 
sions ;  of  historical  allusions ;  of  long  sentences  that  some- 
times include  two  or  three  stanzas.  In  some  instances 
owing  to  the  transposed  structure  of  a  sentence,  it  is  not 
easy  to  determine  which  word  is  the  subject  and  which 
the  object  of  the  verb.  But  the  teacher  with  a  little  fore- 
thought can  make  the  study  one  of  lively  interest.  After 
such  a  course  with  a  large  normal  class,  many  of  the 
students  came  to  me  and  said  that  they  had  never  before 
perceived  any  practical  use  of  grammar  as  applied  to  the 
study  of  literature.  In  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  this 
poem,  selected  from  the  adopted  school  reader,  was  as- 
signed for  special  study  in  the  highest  grammar-grade 
class.  Near  the  end  of  the  year,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
examining,  orally,  more  than  thirty  classes,  most  of  which 
far  exceeded  my  most  sanguine  expectations  of  success. 

Take  another  illustration  of  the  possible  use  of  a  stanza 
from  Byron's  Apostrophe  to  the  Ocean,  found  in  most 
of  the  school  readers. 


236  •        APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

"  The  armaments  which  thunderstrike  the  walls 

Of  rock-built  cities,  bidding  nations  quake 
And  monarchs  tremble  in  their  capitals  ; 

The  oak  leviathans,  whose  huge  ribs  make 
Their  clay  creator  the  vain  title  take 

Of  lord  of  thee,  and  arbiter  of  war — 
These  are  thy  toys,  and,  as  the  snowy  flake, 

They  melt  into  thy  yeast  of  waves  which  mar 
Alike  the  Armada's  pride,  or  spoils  of  Trafalgar." 

Put  the  following  questions  to  a  class,  and  note  the 
results : 

(a)  What  kind  of  sentence  is  this  stanza  ? 

{d)  What  is  meant  by  "  armaments  "  ? 

{c)  Parse  7iations. 

(d)  Parse  tremble. 

(<?)  Meaning  of  "  oak  leviathans  ?  " 

(/)  Who  is  "their  clay  creator?" 

{g)  "  Lord  of  thee  " — Lord  of  whom  ? 

(^)  Explain  the  allusion  "Armada's  pride." 

(/)  How  did  the  yeast  of  waves  mar  the  "  spoils  of  Trafalgar  ?  " 

^  Difficulties.  —  Grammar  is  one  of  the  most  diflficult  of 

/  the   common-school    studies.      To    teach    it   successfully 

/[  requires  the  highest  degree  of  skill  in  the  fine  art  of 

^Jteaching.     "  It   is  more   difificult  than   arithmetic,"    says 

Bain,  "  and  is  probably  on  a  par  with  the  beginnings  of 

algebra  and   geometry."     Therefore  teachers  should   be 

very  patient  with  pupils  that  make  slow  progress  in  the 

study  of  grammatical  technicalities. 

The  text-book  study  of  grammar  presented  according 
to  the  scholastic  logic  of  the  Middle  Ages,  is  now  limited, 
in  the  main,  to  the  two  higher  grades  of  the  common 
school.  As  it  has  taken  a  century  to  lop  off  orthography 
and  prosody  from  this  subject,  and  to  introduce  language 
work  in  the  lower  grades,  it  may  require  a  long  siege  to 


LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 


237 


force  the  last  intrenchments  of  Latinized  English  gram- 
mar in  the  eighth  and  ninth  grades.  There  are  many- 
thousands  of  suffering  teachers  who  are  expectantly  wait- 
ing for  some  modern  text-book  adapted  to  these  two 
grades.  Such  a  book  should  treat  lightly  on  etymology, 
briefly  on  practical  syntax,  and  largely  on  plain  composi- 
tion-writing. The  conventional  Murray  type  is  already 
obsolete,  except  in  remote  rural  and  pioneer  schools,  and 
in  the  schools  of  a  few  cities  which  have  been  stricken 
with  arrested  development  in  consequence  of  political 
misrule.  The  metaphysical  refinement  of  interminable 
sentence  analysis  with  long-drawn-out  diagrams  is  fast 
disappearing,  because  the  time  is  needed  for  better  things. 
Rightly  understood,  properly  taught,  and  kept  within 
reasonable  bounds,  the  study  of  English  grammar  in  the 
highest  grade  in  the  common  schools  may  prove  of  in- 
terest and  practical  value  to  the  great  mass  of  pupils. 

Formal  Composition.  —  In  the  highest  grades  of  the 
common  school,  whether  in  city  or  country,  it  ought  to  be 
possible  for  most  teachers  to  take  up,  in  addition  to  the 
composition-work  done  in  connection  with  other  school 
studies,  a  short  specified  course  in  special  composition 
exercises.  Of  the  four  types  of  prose  writing,  pupils 
ought  to  take  up  the  narrative  and  the  descriptive,  leaving 
exposition  and  argumentation  for  the  high  school  or  col- 
lege. For  such  work  no  text-book  will  be  needed  by 
pupils  if  the  teachers  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  the 
subject. 

The  beginning  should  be  made  easy  and  interesting. 
Teachers  will  direct  the  selection  of  suitable  subjects, 
making  sure  that  they  are  in  keeping  with  the  pupils* 
stock  of  ideas.  Sometimes  half  a  dozen  subjects  may  be 
named,  allowing  each  pupil  to  select  the  topic  that  suits 


238  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

him  best.  Occasionally,  throw  the  responsibility  of  find- 
ing a  subject  upon  the  pupil,  as  an  encouragement  to 
originality.  But  in  general  avoid  all  abstract  topics,  and 
most  subjects  that  require  the  free  use  of  an  encyclopedia. 
Occasionally,  the  outline  of  an  essay  may  be  given  to 
pupils  to  fill  out.  Special  attention  should  be  given  to 
the  division  of  a  composition  into  paragraphs.  A  compo- 
sition of  any  kind  should  have  a  suitable  beginning  and 
a  fitting  end  ;  must  be  capitalized  and  punctuated  ;  must 
be  free  from  gross  blunders  in  syntax.  But  reasonable 
teachers  will  not  expect  pupils  to  become  finished  writers, 
and  will  be  very  tolerant  of  crude  efforts. 

Need  of  a  Standard.  —  At  present  there  seems  to  be  no 
generally  recognized  standard  of  attainment  for  common- 
school  pupils  in  giainmar  and  composition.  There  are 
many  rural  schools,  and  city  schools  not  a  few,  in  which 
composition  writing  is  an  unknown  art,  and  in  which 
grammar  is  limited  to  the  dry  husks  of  text-book  tech- 
nicalities. The  process  of  emancipation  from  custom, 
tradition,  and  educational  bias  is  painfully  slow.  The  ex- 
isting condition  is  fairly  set  forth  by  Professor  B.  A. 
Hinsdale  in  Teaching  the  Language-Arts,  (1897),  as 
follows : 

"  In  no  department  of  study  have  the  schools  recently  seen  more 
dissatisfaction,  more  unrest,  and  more  experiment  than  in  this  one. 
Everything  is  in  a  flux ;  authors,  superintendents,  and  teachers  seem 
to  appreciate  that  something  bearing  the  name  of  EngUsh  must  con- 
stitute a  marked  feature  of  the  schools ;  but  they  do  not,  as  classes  at 
least,  see  clearly  what  it  should  be,  or  how  it  should  be  taught.  As  a 
whole,  the  schools  are  feeling  their  way  ;  as  a  body,  teachers  are  wast- 
ing a  great  deal  of  their  own  and  their  pupils'  time  and  energy  in  efforts 
more  or  less  aimless  and  misdirected  ;  and  there  is  little  probability  of 
the  return  of  that  unity  and  satisfaction  which  so  strongly  marked  the 
Lindley  Murray  rSgzme.    Two  things  are  clear :  One  is  that  the  old 


LANGUAGE  LESSONS  AND  GRAMMAR 


239 


regime  cannot  be  brought  back ;  the  second  is  that  to  teach  English 
successfully  requires  a  combination  of  cultivation,  taste,  judgment,  and 
practical  skill  which  is  not  found  in  the  common  teacher  of  the 
subject." 

Modern  Text-Books. — A  helpful  book  for  teachers  as 
well  as  pupils  is  found  in  Charles  De  Garmo's  Language 
Lessons  (1897).  Book  L  of  this  series  is  designed  for  use 
of  the  pupil  during  the  third  and  fourth  years  of  the  graded 
school ;  Book  IL  for  the  two  succeeding  years. 

In  his  preface  the  author  states  important  principles,  which  are  now 
generally  accepted  by  progressive  educators  :  "  There  are  two  leading 
ideas  in  these  Language  Books.  They  are  (i)  Progressive  Exercises 
in  Composition,  and  (2)  an  Inductive  Approach  to  Grammar.  The 
work  is  consequently  divided  into  two  classes  of  lessons,  Sentence  Ex- 
ercises and  Composition  Exercises.  It  is  a  pre-eminent  characteristic 
of  both  classes  of  exercises  that  they  provide  for  the  pupil  a  language 
experience,  instead  of  presupposing  one  that  he  does  not  have.  This 
conduces  both  to  interest  and  comprehension." 

Another  recent  book  of  great  value  is  Elementary  English  by  E. 
Oram  Lyte,  Principal  of  the  First  Pennsylvania  Normal  School,  Millers- 
ville  (1898).  The  author's  preface  says:  "This  is  a  first  book  on 
formal  language  study.  The  subject  as  here  presented  is  divided  into 
three  parts,  each  part  representing  a  year's  work  in  this  branch.  The 
method  of  development  is  inductive.  What  children  are  interested  in, 
and  what  they  may  easily  be  led  to  be  interested  in,  determined  the 
nature  of  most  of  the  lessons  here  presented."  Lyte's  Elements  of 
Grammar  and  Composition,  (1898),  is  the  second  book  of  this  lan- 
guage series,  designed  for  a  two  or  three  years'  course  in  the  grammar 
grades,  is  admirably  adapted  to  its  purpose.  There  is  not  too  much 
of  it,  in  which  fact  consists  its  great  merit.  Conservatives  wedded  to 
the  formalism  of  the  past  may  not  like  it,  but  it  will  be  given  a  hearty 
welcome  by  thoughtful  teachers  who  have  long  been  waiting  for  just 
such  a  natural  way  of  presenting  the  subject  of  grammar  to  the  aver- 
age grammar  school  pupil.  The  third  book  of  Lyte's  Language 
Series,  Advanced  Grammar  and  Composition^  is  for  use  in  high 
schools  and  normal  schools. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PEDAGOGICAL  PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 

Most  official  courses  of  study,  however  definitely  laid 
down  and  marked  out,  admit  of  some  discretion  on  the 
part  of  teachers.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  for  all  teachers 
to  hold  clearly  in  mind  the  chief  aims  to  be  considered  in 
teaching  arithmetic.  The  suggestions  made  in  the  follow- 
ing rough  outlines  are  intended  as  hints  in  the  direction 
of  modern  tendencies  among  progressive  teachers.  They 
are  derived  from  an  extended  examination  of  courses  and 
text-books,  from  some  experience  in  teaching,  from  a 
wide  field  of  observation  as  a  school-examiner  and  school 
superintendent,  and  from  recent  addresses  and  discussions 
on  the  subject  of  reform  in  teaching  arithmetic. 

FIRST   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

The  wise  t^;^rhpr  of  a  class  of  beginners  will  first  take 
an  account  of  the  stock  of  arithmetical  knowledge  which 

Tn^^Y  glasses  .^h^  ^^^U]  find  ir>nr|y  ^hilHrpn  f^vp^^rfc  in 
counting,  in  reckoning  the  small  coins  of  United  States 
currency,  and  in  making  change.  The  knowledge  of  such 
children  is  empirical,  it  is  true,  but  the  teacher  can  utilize 
it  to  advantage.  It  would  be  refined  cru-elty  to  hold  such 
pupils  to  the  strict  limitations  of  the  Grube  system  or  to 
the  number  lo,  or  20,  or  100.  Perhaps  some  section  of 
her  class  may  need  slow  and  patient  drill  with  "  count- 
ers ;  '*  if  so,  give  it  to  them,  but  begin  the  drill  with  ab- 

240 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


241 


stract  numbers  as  soon  as  possible.  No  harm  will  come 
to  the  children  if  they  learn  to  count  to  100  by  I's;  by 
2's;  by  lo's.  Take  addition  and  subtraction  of  small 
numbers  first ;  in  due  time  take  multiplication  and  divi- 
sion. It  is  not  wise  to  crowd  four  rules  on  the  helpless 
children  all  at  once.  The  Grube  method  with  its  endless 
"  grind  "  on  all  possible  combinations  may  be  philosophical 
and  logical,  but  it  is  not  psychological,  and  it  is  often 
carried  to  absurd  extremes.  Children  in  this  grade  are 
keenly  alive  to  arithmetic  of  the  kind  suited  to  them,  but 
the  making  of  endless  tables  of  figures  with  plus  and 
minus  signs  is  neither  rational  nor  attractive  work.  For 
various  kinds  of  natural  ways  and  means  the  teacher  must 
fall  back  on  her  enlightened  common  sense.  It  may  be 
advisable  to  let  the  children  learn  that  "  12  inches  make 
I  foot,"  by  actually,  themselves,  measuring  off  twelve 
inches  on  the  blackboards.  Most  of  them  knew  before 
they  came  to  school  that  there  are  5  cents  in  a  nickel,  10 
cents  in  a  dime,  10  dimes  in  a  dollar,  2  quarters  in  a 
half  dollar,  and  2  half  dollars  in  a  dollar.  The  time  given 
to  continuous  class  drill  in  number  work  should  not  ex- 
ceed 10  or  15  minutes  in  any  one  lesson.  The  teacher 
who  feels  the  need  of  a  text-book  of  detailed  lessons  will 
find  Baird's  Graded  Work  in  Arithmetic,  First  Year,  a 
very  helpful  book  of  well-arranged  exercises  of  all  kinds. 
Another  modern  book  is  Bailey's  American  Elementary 
Arithmetic  for  the  First  Five  Grades  (1898).  But  teach- 
ers should  avoid  all  forcing  processes  and  rest  content 
with  beginnings. 

SECOND   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

The  average  limitations  of  number  work  in  this  grade 
run  in  most  schools  as  follows  :  exercises  in  the  four  rules 

AM.  PUB.   SCH.  — 16 


242  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

limited,  in  general,  to  hundreds  of  thousands ;  the  multi- 
plication table  through  5*s  or  6's  ;  counting  by  2's,  5's, 
and  lo's  to  icxd;  addition  of  two-place  numbers,  no  sum 
of  units  or  tens  to  exceed  10; — e.  g.  43  and  24,  etc.  ;  sub- 
traction of  two-place  numbers,  without  ''  borrowing ;  " 
multiplication  of  two-place  numbers  by  2  and  3,  no  pro- 
duct to  exceed  10:  —  e.  g.  23  by  3,  etc.  ;  division  of  two- 
place  numbers,  —  e.  g.  64  -^  2,  etc. ;  easy  problems  such 
as  are  found  in  most  primary  arithmetics ;  inches,  feet, 
and  yards,  by  actual  measurement  by  pupils  themselves ; 
pint,  quart,  gallon,  by  actual  measurement ;  cent,  nickel, 
dime,  dollar,  by  actual  inspection  of  the  coins,  and  by 
simple  business  questions  in  making  change.  As  an  ex- 
periment the  above  limitations  may  be  supplemented  by 
exercises  in  finding  ^,  ^,  i^,  \,  and  ^  of  small  numbers 
evenly  divisible  by  2,  3,  4,  5,  and  10 ;  and  by  taking  up 
the  reading  and  writing  of  dollars  and  cents,  —  e.  g. 
$1.25,  $1.50,  $5.00,  etc. 

Fractions.  —  There  seems  to  be  no  psychological  rea- 
son why  the  beginning  of  a  limited  practical  use  of  both 
common  and  decimal  fractions  should  not  be  made  in  the 
second  school  year,  and  continued,  under  due  limitations, 
in  easy  inductive  lessons  in  the  third  and  fourth  grades, 
as  a  fitting  preparation  for  formal  text-book  treatment  in 
the  fifth  grade.  But  as  it  took  me  many  years  of  teach- 
ing and  experiment  to  reach  this  conclusion,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  many  teachers  will  dissent  from  it. 

The  general  postponement  of  any  written  work  with 
fractions  until  the  fifth  school  year  or  grade  seems  to 
have  been  the  result  of  the  arrangement  of  the  old-fash- 
ioned one-book  arithmetics  under  which  it  was  impos- 
sible for  pupils  to  reach  fractions  until  about  that  period. 
These  books  began  with  definitions  and  rules  but  omitted 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


243 


inductive  elementary  exercises  altogether.  When  pupils 
finally  reached  common  fractions  at  ten  or  eleven  years  of 
age,  they  were  required  to  go  over  many  dreary  pages  of 
unprofitable  work  on  factors,  prime  factors,  greatest  com- 
mon divisor,  least  common  multiple,  common  denomi- 
nator, and  least  common  denominator,  before  they  could 
reach  the  practical  operation  of  adding  ^  and  %.  More- 
over, the  subject  of  common  fractions  was  exhaustively 
treated  and  applied  to  complex  and  difficult  problems 
before  pupils  were  taught  the  simplest  operations  in 
decimals  or  in  the  decimal  currency  of  the  United  States. 

Teachers  who  were  trained  when  pupils  under  the 
formal,  logical,  deductive  order  of  text-book  presentation 
of  arithmetic  do  not  always  take  kindly  to  the  natural 
method  of  easy  inductive  lessons  which  ought  always  to 
prepare  the  way  for  a  final  formal  treatment  of  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  fact  is  that  when  children  enter  school  at  six  years 
of  age,  most  of  them  are  familiar  with  *'  halves  "  and 
"  quarters  "  though  they  may  not  be  able  to  express  them 
in  arithmetical  form.  They  will  tell  you  that  one-half  of 
half  an  apple  is  a  quarter  of  an  apple,  though  they  know 
nothing  about  *'  multiplication  of  fractions."  They  begin 
school  with  some  practical  knowledge  of  the  decimal  cur- 
rency of  the  United  States,  though  they  know  nothing  of 
"  decimal  fractions."  Now  by  utilizing  the  knowledge 
which  they  already  have,  the  skillful  teacher  can  make 
their  first  lessons  in  fractions  pleasant  and  profitable. 

When  superintendent  of  the  schools  in  San  Francisco, 
I  personally  tested  the  elementary  knowledge  of  more 
than  a  hundred  classes  in  the  first  and  second  grades  in 
which,  according  to  the  course  of  study,  no  instruction 
whatever  had  been  given  in  fractions.     In  every  class  in 


244  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS     . 

the  first  grade  some  pupils  knew  how  to  write  >^.  One 
little  girl  when  asked  how  she  learned  to  write  it,  an- 
swered, **  I  live  at  2i2>^  Pacific  St."  They  added  halves 
almost  as  readily  as  wholes. 

In  the  second  grades  when  the  children  were  asked  to 
write  y2  and  ^,  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  of  them  did 
it,  much  to  the  surprise  of  their  teachers.  When  the 
children  were  asked  to  add  one-half  an  apple  and  one- 
quarter  of  an  apple,  the  oral  question  was  correctly  an- 
swered, usually  by  from  ten  to  twenty  pupils  in  each  class. 
Then  they  went  to  the  blackboard,  wrote  the  fractions, 
added  them,  and  told  how  they  got  the  answers.  They 
said  nothing  about  reducing  fractions  to  a  common  denom- 
inator. They  simply  said,  '*  One  half  is  two  quarters, 
and  two  quarters  and  one  quarter  are  three  quarters." 
These  same  children  were  experts  in  "  making  change  "  and 
some  of  them  could  write  dollars  and  cents,  though  they 
had  been  taught  neither  "  decimal  fractions  "  nor  "  United 
States  money "  at  school.  My  presumption  that  the 
children  had  brains  and  had  learned  something  outside 
of  school  was  correct. 

Inductive  lessons  in  arithmetic  should  begin  with  ques- 
tions about  something  that  pupils  already  know,  and 
should  gradually  lead  up  to  something  new  to  be  found 
out.  In  giving  such  development  lessons,  teachers  should 
explain  to  the  class  nothing  that  pupils  can  readily  find 
out  for  themselves,  should  tell  nothing  in  advance,  and 
should  lend  a  helping  hand  only  when  the  class  fails  after 
having  had  ample  time  to  think.  This  process  is  slow 
but  very  effective.  In  development  lessons  the  fractions 
should  be  strictly  limited  to  such  as  are  used  in  the  or- 
dinary business  of  life.  As  statistics  show  that  nearly 
one  half  of  the  pupils  of  the  public  schools  leave  school 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


245 


before  they  reach  the  fifth  grade,  or  year,  it  is  a  matter 
of  practical  importance  that  such  children  should  leave 
•school  with  some  business  outfit  of  simple  operations  in 
both  common  and  decimal  fractions. 

Colonel  Parker  in  his  Talks  on  Pedagogics  says  :  "  The  putting  off 
of  the  teaching  of  fractions  to  the  fifth  and  sixth  grades  is  simply  put- 
ting in  abeyance  an  essential  means  of  developing  the  mind.  The 
child,  when  he  reaches  the  fifth  grade  may  know  all  there  is  to  be 
known  of  fractions  with  the  greatest  ease,  if  fractions  are  really 
taught,  —  not  the  mere  notation  and  numeration  of  fractions.  Frac- 
tions should  be  taught  from  the  first  to  last,  and  the  same  can  be  said 
in  regard  to  decimal  fractions.  Decimal  fractions  in  notation  have  a 
great  advantage  over  common  fractions.  Decimal  fractions  are  per- 
fectly easy  and  should  be  taught  when  ten  is  taught,  and  the  notation 
of  decimal  fractions  should  always  be  learned  and  used  when  required 
in  the  development  of  number."  ..."  We  have  great  complaint  that 
children  go  out  of  school,  after  four  or  five  years  of  study,  without  any 
knowledge  of  arithmetic,  and  the  cause  for  this  is  that  these  subjects 
are  out  of  their  pedagogical  relation.  They  have  an  artificial,  illogical 
place  in  the  course.  Tradition  has  taught  us  to  put  off  these  things 
until  a  certain  time  comes, — a  time  when  half  of  the  children  of  the 
United  States  are  out  of  school.  The  genuine  demands  for  a  child's 
growth  always  include  the  best  for  practical  life  at  all  times." 

Superintendent  J.  M.  Greenwood  of  Kansas  City  states  in  his  dissent 
from  the  "  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  :  "  "  There  is  really  no 
valid  argument  why  children  in  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  years  in 
school  should  not  master  the  fundamental  operations  in  fractions. 
Not  9nly  this,  they  will  put  the  more  common  fractions  into  the  tech- 
nique of  percentage,  and  do  this  as  well  in  the  second  and  third  grades 
as  at  any  other  time  in  their  future  progress.  ...  In  decimals,  the 
pupil  is  really  confronted  by  a  simpler  form  of  fractions  than  the  varied 
forms  of  common  fractions.  .  .  .  There  should  be  a  rearrangement  of 
the  topics  in  arithmetic  so  that  one  subject  naturally  leads  up  to  the 
next." 

In  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  (1893-94,  Vol.  I.,) 
there  are  60  pages  of  verbatim  reports  of  recitations  in  arithmetic  and 
language  in  the  schools  of  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  furnished  by  Super- 
intendent Greenwood,  who  had  stenographic  reports  taken  of  lessons 


246  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

given  by  teachers  under  his  direction.  These  lessons  show  the  possi- 
bilities in  the  practical  use  of  fractions  in  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth, 
and  fifth  grades. 

THIRD   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

The  conventional  work  includes,  in  general,  drill  on  the 
multiplication  table  to  lo's  or  12's  ;  addition  by  "  carry- 
ing," and  subtraction  by  *'  taking  from  higher  order ;  " 
multiplication  with  "  carrying  "  and  with  two-place  num- 
bers for  a  multiplier  ;  long  division  limited  to  small  num- 
bers. All  of  the  work  should  be  kept  within  reasonable 
limitations.  There  is  a  general  tendency,  fostered  by  the 
old-type  arithmetics,  to  run  the  children  at  once  into  large 
numbers,  long  operations,  and  difficult  problems.  It  is 
well  to  keep  in  mind  a  recent  statement  (1898),  by  Dr.  E. 
E.  White :  "  The  forcing  of  young  children  to  do  prema- 
turely what  they  ought  not  to  do  until  they  are  older, 
results  in  what  Dr.  Harris  calls,  '  arrested  development.* 
The  colt  that  is  over-speeded  and  over-trained  when  two 
j^ears  old,  breaks  no  record  at  six.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  too  much  training  in  primary  grades  ;  an  over-develop- 
ment of  the  reason.  A  little  child  may  be  developed  into 
a  dullard.  More  natural  growth  and  less  forced  develop- 
ment would  be  a  blessing  to  thousands  of  young  children." 

What  the  children  iij  this  grade  really  need  is  a  great 
variety  of  comparatively  easy  exercises,  dealing  with  num- 
bers kept  within  reasonable  limits,  and  with  exercises  that 
have  some  relation  to  their  daily  life.  They  need  careful 
drill  in  accuracy,  not  abnormal  rapidity  of  operation. 
They  need  drill  on  hundreds  of  short  operations,  not  long- 
continued  drill  on  ledger  columns  of  addition,  or  puzzling 
problems  that  have  no  relation  to  human  life  or  to  busi- 
ness. 

Baird's  Third  Year's  Work  is  full  of  reasonable  and  practical  exer- 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


247 


cises.  The  preface  to  this  book  contains  the  following  statement 
which  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  teachers  :  "  As  many  pupils  are 
unable  to  attend  school  beyond  the  grade  for  which  this  book  is  in- 
tended, there  are  here  included  some  of  the  applications  of  arithmetic, 
a  knowledge  of  which  will  give  to  the  pupil  power  to  solve  many  prob- 
lems of  every-day  occurrence."  Accordingly,  there  are  given  a  great 
many  exercises  which  involve  the  use  of  dollars  and  cents  in  business 
examples.  A  few  business  fractions  are  introduced  in  a  natural  way, 
without  note,  or  comment,  or  definition.  For  the  use  of  any  teacher 
who  may  wish  to  experiment  still  further  in  this  direction,  a  few  forms 
of  inductive  exercises  are  here  introduced,  which  any  teacher  can 
supplement  to  any  extent  with  similar  models  of  her  own. 

Models  for  Inductive  Exercises.  —  Proceed  at  once, 
without  any  talk  about  numerator  or  denominator,  to  give 
a  great  many  drill  exercises  in  writing  and  adding  after 
the  type  of  exercises  given  below.  As  children  are  ac- 
customed to  write  whole  numbers  in  vertical  columns  for 
adding,  it  is  the  more  natural  way  for  them  to  write  frac- 
tions in  the  same  manner. 

Send  the  class  to  the  blackboards,  dictate  the  examples, 
give  pupils  ample  time  to  think,  and  ascertain  how  many 
can  do  the  work  without  any  assistance.  If  put  upon  the 
right  track,  many  pupils  will  find  out  for  themselves  a 
method  for  working  an  exercise  in  arithmetic.  When 
necessary,  help  out  pupils  by  a  hint  in  the  right  direction. 


ADDITION 

OF  COMMON    FRACTIONS.— 

-SLATE   MODEL. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

Yz 

% 

i 

^ 

6% 

2f 

2/8 

% 

% 

i 

^ 

2K 

2f 

3f 

% 

% 

i 

^ 

S% 

5^ 

1/8 

% 

% 

i 

tV 

A% 

6X 

1% 

248  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

ADDITION   OF   DOLLARS  AND   CENTS  AND   DECIMALS. 

One  good  way  of  teaching  decimals  to  beginners  is  by 
means  of  exercises  in  writing  and  adding  dollars  and  cents, 
the  change  from  reading  and  writing  dollars  and  cents  to 
reading  and  writing  whole  numbers  and  hundredths  is  easily 
made,  because  most  children  know  there  are  100  cents  in  a 
dollar. 

FIRST  STEPS   IN    ADDING   DOLLARS   AND  CENTS. 


(a) 

(b) 

(c)              (d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

I1.50 

I-50 

I2.10          2.10 

I4.05 

4.05 

I1.12K 

I1.25 

1-25 

$2.15          2.15 

I2.05 

2.05 

I1.12K 

MODEL 

FOR   SLATE  WORK    IN   ADDITION. 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

^% 

%^% 

$1-50 

IX 

|o.2S 

.25 

3^ 

%^% 

I1.25 

IK 

I0.50 

•75 

MODEL    FOR   SLATE  WORK 

IN    MULTIPLICATION 

(a) 

(b) 

(c)             (d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

4K 

5X 

6^            6.3 

U)i 

I4.25 

4-25 

X2 

X3 

X3            X3 

X3 

X3 

X3 

PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


249 


DIVISION. 


(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

Kof    4 

4  -^-  2  = 

>^  of  $4.20 

J5  4.20  -^  2  =  ? 

Kof  1 

i^2  =  : 

Xof|i6.8o 

I16.80  -=-  4  =^  ? 

KofT«^ 

A  ^  2  =  : 

)4oi$  1. 00 

1    I.OO  -T-  2   =  ? 

%oi  .6 

6^2  = 

i  of  $10.25 

I10.25  -4-  5  =  .? 

FOURTH   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 


This  course,  in  general,  includes  addition  and  subtrac- 
tion, numbers  not  to  exceed  thousands ;  multiplication, 
the  product  not  to  exceed  five  or  six  places ;  division, 
divisors  not  to  exceed  two  places.  Tables  learned  and 
applied  in  actual  measurements  ;  —  square  measure  —  inch, 
foot,  yard;  cubic  measure,  inch,  foot,  yard.  To  this  out- 
line there  might  be  added  by  the  teacher  willing  to  make 
experiments,  the  following :  addition  and  subtraction  of 
dollars  and  cents  ;  of  decimals  not  exceeding  hundredths  ; 
easy  business  examples  involving  the  multiplication  of 
dollars  and  cents  by  multipliers  not  exceeding  ten,  etc. 

If  two  books  are  used,  as  is  the  case  in  many  schools, 
teachers  should  take  special  pains  to  correlate  the  mental 
or  oral  arithmetic  with  the  work  found  in  the  text-book 
on  written  arithmetic.  Teachers  who  may  wish  to  give 
supplementary  work  in  common  and  decimal  fractions, 
and  dollars  and  cents,  will  find  Baird's  Graded  Work  in 
Arithmetic — Fourth  Year — a  helpful  hand  book  ;  also 
Bailey's  Arithmetic  and  any  one  of  several  other  modern 
text-bdoks. 


250  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

FIFTH   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

Whatever  may  be  the  arrangement  of  the  school  text- 
book used  by  pupils,  the  teacher  should  modify  its  ar- 
rangement so  that  attention  should  be  concentrated  on 
accuracy  in  the  four  rules  by  means  of  practical  business 
problems  involving  comparatively  small  numbers ;  on 
common  and  decimal  fractions,  taught  inductively  as  far 
as  practicable ;  on  the  common  business  tables  of  weights 
and  measures  and  their  practical  application  in  life.  Un- 
fortunately many  of  the  arithmetics  in  use  contain  a  great 
deal  of  traditional  padding,  and  vast  numbers  of  examples 
and  problems  that  have  little  or  no  relation  to  the  busi- 
ness life  of  to-day.  An  excellent  series  of  inductive  ex- 
ercises in  common  and  decimal  fractions  will  be  found  in 
Baird's  Parts  IV.  and  V. ;  in  Bailey's  Elementary,  and 
in  other  modern  text  books. 

SIXTH   GRADE  OR  YEAR. 

The  chief  work  in  this  year,  according  to  the  average 
course,  will  be  common  and  decimal  fractions  taken  up  in 
formal  text-book  style,  and  the  practical  application  of 
tables  to  the  ordinary  business  pursuits  of  life.  The  ob- 
jective points  are  to  make  pupils  accurate,  and  to  enable 
them  to  see  through  reasonable  problems  and  apply  prin- 
ciples for  themselves.  They  should  be  trained  to  test  and 
prove  their  own  work.  They  should  also  be  taught  how 
to  make  out  a  bill  and  reckon  it  accurately,  how  to  write 
a  promissory  note,  and  how  to  write  a  receipt.  It  is  de- 
sirable, further,  that  pupils  should  be  taught  the  elements 
of  percentage,  and  a  business  method  of  reckoning  interest 
on  small  sums  of  money  for  one  year  and  fractional  parts 
of  a  year.     This  should  be  done  for  the  benefit  of  large 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


251 


numbers  of  pupils  that  will  drop  out  of  school  at  the  end 
of  the  year.  Omit  the  greatest  common  divisor,  as  a 
separate  topic,  and  take  only  so  much  of  the  least  com- 
mon multiple  as  is  required  in  the  addition  or  subtraction 
of  business  fractions.  Omit  reduction  and  most  of  the 
operations  formerly  required  under  the  head  of  compound 
addition,  subtraction,  multiplication,  and  division.  Take 
only  the  parts  that  are  actually  used  in  ordinary  business 
pursuits  and  in  farm  life.  Bailey's  Comprehensive  Arith- 
metic will  be  useful  to  teachers. 

SEVENTH   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

The  main  work  of  this  year  should  be  percentage  and 
its  applications  to  the  business  method  of  commission  and 
to  simple  interest.  The  incidental  work  should  consist 
of  geometrical  exercises  and  measurements.  A  great  deal 
of  the  work  found  under  the  preceding  heads  in  many 
text-books  may  profitably  be  omitted.  The  concentration 
of  effort  should  be  to  lead  pupils,  by  means  of  simple  in- 
ductive lessons,  to  a  clear  conception  of  principles.  Chil- 
dren should  be  made  to  realize  that  all  operations  on 
business  problems  should  be  as  accurately  performed  as 
if  they  were  actual  business  transactions.  The  work  in 
interest  should  be  strictly  limited  to  reckoning  interest, 
omitting  altogether  the  work  found  in  many  text-books 
under  the  head  of  "  Problems  in  Interest  "  ;  e.  g.,  to  find 
the  time,  when  the  principal,  interest,  and  rate  are  given, 
etc.  Special  attention  should  be  given  to  drill  in  writing 
promissory  notes,  and  the  making  out  of  bills. 

Colonel  Parker,  in  his  Talks  on  Pedagogics,  makes  the  following 
trenchant  criticism  on  text-book  work  in  "  interest  "  :  "  Of  all  subjects, 
within  a  few  years,  the  subject  of  interest  has  been  made  the  most 
mysterious,  complex,  and  most  confusing;  still,  the  subject  of  interest 


252  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

in  itself  is  perfectly  simple  and  easy.  Bookmakers  have  crowded 
their  terms  of  rate  per  cent,  base,  etc.,  upon  us  ;  and  when  the  pupils 
come  to  it  they  suppose  that  they  are  coming  to  a  brand-new  subject, 
when  the  fact  is,  if  the  subject  of  number  has  been  developed,  there 
is  nothing  essentially  new  to  learn  in  interest." 

EIGHTH   GRADE   OR    YEAR. 

The  work  should  include  simple  interest ;  profit  and 
loss  ;  commercial  and  bank  discount,  omitting  "  true  dis- 
count," which  is  not  used  in  common  business  affairs ; 
simple  proportion  and  square  root.  Cube  root  with  ana- 
lytical explanation  should  be  omitted,  except  as  limited 
to  such  simple  exercises  as  may  be  done  by  inspection ; 
e.  g.,  cube  root  of  27  ;  of  1728,  etc.  Exchange,  stocks,  and 
some  other  topics,  still  retained  in  many  text-books,  really 
belong  to  a  commercial  course.  If  the  grade  work  is  kept 
within  reasonable  limits,  there  will  remain  time  to  make  a 
beginning  of  algebra,  or  of  concrete  geometry,  or  of  both 
together. 

A  thoughtful  and  practical  monograph  on  Geometry  in  the  Gram- 
mar School  by  Professor  Hanus,  of  Harvard  University,  will  be  of 
great  value  to  teachers  as  a  guide  in  the  right  direction.  A  few 
quotations  will  show  the  trend  of  his  suggestions  :  "In  the  grammar 
school  the  knowledge  value  of  a  subject  should  never  be  subordinate 
to  the  disciplinary  value.  .  .  .  Grammar  school  instruction  in  geom- 
etry should  give  preference  to  those  topics  which  have  a  practical 
application  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life.  In  so  doing  special  attention 
must  be  given  to  those  propositions  which  can  be  established  chiefly 
through  observation,  empirically ;  gradually  the  pupil  must  be  led  to 
undertake  the  easier  deductive  proofs.  ...  In  the  presentation  of  the 
subject,  the  best  results  will  be  obtained  only  when  the  pupil  has  no 
text-book  which  contains  the  definitions  and  propositions.  When 
geometry  is  not  taught  as  it  should  be,  not  only  shall  we  fail  to  achieve 
the  results  at  which  we  aim,  but  we  may  even  produce  results  the 
reverse  of  those  desired."     This  book  contains  a  detailed  outline   of 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


253 


work  for  the  work  in  geometry  for  the  last  three  years  of  the  grammar 
school. 

BOOKKEEPING  IN  GRAMMAR  GRADES. 

By  state  law  in  some  cases,  and  by  city  ordinances  in 
others,  bookkeeping  is  made  a  required  study  in  connec- 
tion with  arithmetic  as  was  ''  the  casting  of  accounts  "  in 
times  past.  To  a  limited  extent  this  is  well  enough,  but 
there  has  grown  up  a  tendency  to  convert  the  highest 
grammar  grade  into  a  commercial  school.  This  plan  is 
not  the  part  of  educational  wisdom.  Other  and  more  im- 
portant things  ought  not  to  be  excluded  by  attempting  to 
make  boys  and  girls  expert  accountants. 

President  Eliot  emphasizes  this  matter  as  follows  :  "  I  believe  it  to 
be  the  most  useless  subject  in  the  entire  program,  for  the  reason 
that  the  bookkeeping  taught  is  a  kind  never  found  in  any  real  business 
establishment.  .  .  .  What  a  boy  or  girl  can  learn  at  school  which  will 
be  useful  in  after-life  in  keeping  books  or  accounts  for  any  real  busi- 
ness is  a  good  handwriting,  and  accuracy  in  adding,  subtracting,  mul- 
tiplying, and  dividing  small  numbers.  As  trades  and  industries  have 
been  differentiated  in  the  modem  world,  bookkeeping  has  been  differ- 
entiated also,  and  it  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  teach  in  school  the 
infinite  diversities  of  practice."  ^ 

RELATIVE  VALUE   OF  ARITHMETIC. 

During  the  greater  part  of  this  century,  arithmetic  was 
made  the  major  study  of  the  common  schools,  incident- 
ally to  learn  how  to  "  reckon,"  but  mainly  for  the  philo- 
sophical reason  that  it  was  supposed  to  give  a  better 
"  mental  discipline  "  than  any  other  study.  In  a  majority 
of  the  schools  of  to-day  it  is  allowed  more  time  than  any 
other  school  study.  But  there  is  a  general  tendency 
towards  accuracy  rather  than  rapidity,  quality  rather  than 

1  "Educational  Reform  "  (1898). 


254 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


quantity,  simplicity  rather  than  complexity,  business  exer- 
cises rather  than  schoolmaster's  problems,  and  clearness  of 
ideas  rather  than  endless  drudgery  over  wearisome  exer- 
cises, problems  in  compound  numbers,  complex  fractions, 
compound  interest,  compound  proportion,  and  cube  root. 
There  is  no  shadow  of  doubt  that  this  tendency  will  end 
in  a  general  recasting  of  the  order  of  presentation  as  found 
in  the  older  school  arithmetics,  and  in  a  still  greater  re- 
duction of  the  time  now  devoted  to  the  study  which  our 
forefathers  made  the  most  important  pursuit  of  school 
life. 

In  many  city  courses  of  study,  not  only  has  the  time 
given  to  arithmetical  work  been  reduced  from  nine  years 
to  seven,  but  there  has  also  been  a  great  reduction  in  the 
quantity  of  arithmetic.  Some  of  the  time-honored  topics 
formerly  included  in  text-books  have  been  eliminated,  and 
others,  though  still  retained  in  the  books,  have  been 
dropped  in  practice.  The  latest  type  of  the  improved 
modern  text-book  is  found  in  Baird's  Graded  Work  in 
Arithmetic  (1898),  consisting  of  five  small  books,  ar- 
ranged in  specific  *'  Parts,"  one  for  each  grade  or  year. 
Bailey's  American  Elementary  Arithmetic  for  the  first 
five  grades  is  an  excellent  text-book,  as  is  also  the 
American  Comprehensive  Arithmetic,  which  follows  it. 
There  are  several  other  new  series  of  text-books,  on  a 
similar  plan,  all  in  the  direction  of  educational  reform. 

HINTS  AND   SUGGESTIONS  ABOUT  ARITHMETIC. 

Essentials.  —  The  essential  parts  of  arithmetic  which 
pupils  should  understand  are  the  four  rules,  common  and 
decimal  fractions,  the  tables  of.  xaaneyjL  weights  and  meas- 
ures with  their  practical  application,   percentage,  and  in- 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC 


255 


terest.  A  great  deal  that  passes  in  text-books  under  the 
name  of  arithmetic  consists  largely  of  conventional  exer- 
cises, of  no  practical  and  of  little  disciplinary  value. 

Accuracy.  —  Pupils  in  the  higher  grades  should  be  re- 
quired to  state  not  only  what  they  do,  but  why  they  do 
it.  They  should  test  the  truth  and  accuracy  of  their  pro- 
cesses by  proof,  the  only  test  they  will  have  to  rely  upon 
'in  real  business  transactions.  All  grades  should  be 
trained  to  special  accuracy  in  addition.  One  good  exer- 
cise is  to  dictate  a  column  of  units  to  the  class,  the  amount 
not  to  exceed  50  or  100 ;  give  ample  time  for  every  pupil 
to  add  the  column  upward  and  then  downward ;  when 
every  pupil  gets  the  correct  answer,  the  class  is  trained  to 
accurate  work. 

Analysis.  —  Do  not  try  to  force  upon  young  pupils 
demonstrations  and  analyses  which  are  suitable  only  for 
older  pupils.  It  is  a  marked  defect  in  some  school  arith- 
metics that  they  are  filled  up  with  explanations  and  dem- 
onstrations. The  explanations,  if  given  at  all,  should  be 
given  orally  by  the  teacher  ;  they  do  not  belong  to  a 
pupil's  book,  unless  it  is  assumed  that  the  teacher  knows 
nothing  whatever  about  the  subject.  Another  marked 
defect,  arising  from  limited  space,  is  the  too  sudden  tran- 
sition from  very  simple  questions  to  complex  ones.  The 
teacher  should  remedy,  in  some  degree,  this  defect  by 
substituting  development  exercises.  Difficult  problems, 
requiring  sustained  processes  of  reasoning,  or  complicated 
forms  of  analytical  explanations,  if  used  at  all,  should  be 
given  only  to  advanced  pupils.  In  fact,  what  are  termed 
"  hard  problems  "  do  not  come  within  the  province  of  the 
common  school  at  all,  if,  indeed,  of  any  school. 

Time.  —  The  time  devoted  to  arithmetic  should  not  ex- 
ceed four  hours  a  week,  and  in  primary  grades  it  may  be 


256  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

reduced  to  two  hours,  or  less.  Most  of  the  arithmetical 
work  should  be  done  in  school. 

Educational  Reform.  —  Arithmetic  when  rightly  taught 
is  a  means  of  promoting  sustained  attention  ;  of  render- 
ing the  memory  more  tenacious  by  retaining  the  condi- 
tions of  a  question  in  mind  during  the  solution ;  and  of 
cultivating,  to  some  extent,  the  reasoning  powers.  To 
a  certain  extent,  arithmetic  is  a  business  necessity.  There 
are  many  teachers,  however,  and  their  number  is  rapidly 
increasing,  who  no  longer  rank  arithmetic  as  the  most 
important  subject  in  the  common-school  course  of  study. 
These  reformers  recognize  the  practical  need  of  knowing 
how  to  cipher,  but  they  believe  that  the  "  mentaj  disci- 
pline "  acquired  by  a  long-continued  study  of  arithmetic 
is  greatly  over-estimated  by  the  majority  of  school  boards 
and  school  teachers.  They  insist  that  arithmetic  should 
no  longer  be  made  the  major  study  in  school  as  it  was  in 
the  days  of  our  forefathers.  They  demand  that  a  part  of 
the  time  now  given  to  this  study  should  be  devoted  to 
better  things. 

Other  Reforms.  —  This  cutting  down  of  time  given  to 
arithmetic  is  only  one  of  several  reforms  now  pressing 
upon  us.  The  plain  truth  is  that  the  grammar  grades, 
including  the  last  four  years  of  the  elementary  school 
course,  seem  at  present  to  form  the  most  inflexible  and 
non-progressive  part  of  the  entire  public  system,  so  far  as 
the  course  of  study  is  concerned.  A  flexible  or  an  elect- 
ive course  exists  in  all  state  universities  and  technical 
colleges  and  in  many  of  the  higher  institutions  outside  of 
the  public  school  system.  The  high  schools  have  in  gen- 
eral at  least  two  courses,  a  classical  course  and  an  English 
course,  and  some  of  them  have  a  broader  course  of  elect- 
ives.     The  work  in  primary  grades  has  been  brought  into 


PRINCIPLES  APPLIED  TO  ARITHMETIC         257 

harmony  with  advanced  methods  and  with  modern  psy- 
chological principles.  But  the  grammar  school  stands 
alone  as  a  monument  of  the  past.  In  a  few  enlightened 
educational  centers  some  slight  modifications  have  been 
made,  and  that  is  about  all. 

One  great  barrier  standing  in  the  way  of  possible  reform  is  the 
crowding  of  from  45  to  55  pupils  into  one  room  to  be  taught  by  one 
teacher.  Here  is  what  President  Eliot  says  in  his  paper  on  the 
Grammar  School  of  the  Future,  and  every  word  of  it  is  true :  "  It  is 
obvious  that  the  young  woman  with  fifty  or  sixty  pupils  before  her  is 
attempting  what  no  mortal  can  perform.  ...  I  suppose  it  is  practi- 
cable for  one  young  woman  to  hear  the  lessons  out  of  one  book  of  all 
the  fifty  children  before  her  during  the  hours  of  the  grammar  school 
session.  .  .  .  But  the  new  teaching  is  of  quite  a  different  character. 
To  double  the  number  of  teachers  would  not  be  too  much  ;  for 
twenty-five  or  thirty  pupils  are  enough  for  one  teacher  to  grapple 
with.  The  individual  requires  teaching  in  these  days,  and  no  teaching 
is  good  which  does  not  pay  attention  to  the  individual.  We  are 
coming  to  accept  the  doctrine  that  no  4;eaching  is  good  which  does 
not  awaken  interest  in  the  pupil.  .  .  .  But  the  American  grammar 
school  of  the  future  will  make  that  the  rule  which  is  now  the  excep- 
tion —  every  child  without  special  favor  to  get  at  the  right  jubject  at 
the  right  age  and  to  pursue  it  as  fast  as  he  is  able  to  travel." 

Need  of  Some  Common  Standard.  —  All  teachers  are 
agreed  that  practical  arithmetic  should  be  taught  in  the 
elementary  schools  to  the  extent  required  by  the  demands 
of  modern  life.  The  unsettled  point  in  question  is  the 
extent  to  which  it  shall  be  carried  as  a  means  of  mental 
discipline.  This  point  cannot  be  decided  by  discussion. 
It  must  be  determined  by  careful  examination  and  experi- 
ment carried  on  in  a  spirit  of  scientific  investigation.  It 
cannot  be  said,  at  present,  that  there  is  any  fixed  standard 
of  attainment  which  is  generally  agreed  upon  by  teachers, 
by  school  superintendents,  or  by  other  school  of^cials. 
However,  the  reform  is  well  under  way,  and  the  methods 

AM.    PUB.   SCH. 17 


258  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

of  old-time  schoolmasters  together  with  the  "  sums"  and 
**  rules  "  of  old-time  text-books  will  become  more  and  more 
uncouth,  and  finally  disappear  altogether.  It  certainly  is 
educational  barbarism  to  require  pupils  in  rural  schools  or 
in  city  grammar  schools  to  cram  a  course  in  arithmetic 
far  in  excess  of  the  standard  for  admission  into  colleges 
and  universities. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

PSYCHOLOGICAL     PRINCIPLES     IN    TEACHING     ELEMENTARY 

HISTORY 

The  valiicof  history  as  a  school  study  depends  on  the 
manner  in  which^j^  is  taught,  and  on  what  the  term 
""  history  "  is  made  to  include.  Not  many  years  ago,  when 
learning  history  meant  the  memorizing  and  reciting  of  the 
pages  of  a  text-book,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  pupils 
found  the  subject  uninteresting,  and  that  teachers  regarded 
history  as  of  little  educational  value.  But  history  is  now 
made  to  include  stories,  tradition,  myths,  biography,  and 
poetry  in  addition  to  formal  text-book  study.  Instruction 
begins  with  stories  and  oral  lessons,  and  is  made  an  im- 
portant part  of  regular  grade  work  throughout  the  whole 
course.  The  Herbartians  present  history  as  a  means  of 
promoting  patriotism,  of  fitting  for  intelligent  citizenship, 
and  above  all,  of  moral  training ;  in  other  words,  as  the 
chief  means  of  forming  character. 

Oral  Lessons  in  History.  —  Whatever  instruction  in 
history  is  given  in  the  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth  grades  must,  of  necessity,  be  mainly  by  oral  lessons. 
Perhaps  the  majority  of  teachers  are  unaccustomed  to 
giving  such  lessons.  This,  however,  is  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  fit  themselves  for  the  work  by  thoughtful 
practice.  The  training  departments  of  state  and  city 
normal  schools  are  now  sending  out  annually  large  num- 
bers of  graduates  well  trained  in  this  line  of  work,  and 

many  untrained  teachers  have  the  opportunity  of  visiting 

259 


26o  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

their  classes  and  learning  their  methods  by  actual  obser- 
vation. The  school  journals  are  full  of  lessons  and  sug- 
gestions in  this  direction.  Moreover,  there  are  several 
books  recently  published  which  outline  in  detail  the  history 
work  that  has  been  done  by  special  teachers  in  the  train- 
ing classes  connected  with  large  normal  schools.  One  of 
these  is  the  Special  Method  in  History  and  Literature 
by  Charles  A.  McMurry,  a  book  that  is  replete  with  com- 
mon sense,  and  is  imbued  with  a  spirit  of  enthusiasm  that 
can  hardly  fail  to  convince  the  most  doubtful  teacher  of 
the  value  of  oral  lessons  and  the  possibility  of  learning 
how  to  give  them. 

Moreover,  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  new  method  of 
history  teaching,  there  have  been  published  within  the 
last  few  years  a  large  number  of  history  stories  for  young 
children  in  the  lower  grades.  Most  of  these  inexpensive 
little  books  have  been  written  by  teachers  experienced  in 
teaching  primary  grades  in  public  schools,  and  familiar 
with  the  wants  and  needs  of  children.  These  history 
sketches  are  fully  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  modern 
educational  thought.  They  are  psychological  in  method 
and  interesting  in  style  and  illustration.  Teachers  can 
safely  study  them  as  models  for  their  own  oral  lessons,  or 
make  use  of  them  as  supplementary  reading  matter  in 
jSchool. 

/  The  following  outlines  are  suggestive  only  of  begin- 
inings,  but  their  meagerness  and  simplicity  can  be  supple- 
mented by  reference  to  the  elaborate  courses  for  the  train- 
ing classes  connected  with  normal  schools. 

SECOND   AND   THIRD    GRADES   OR   YEARS. 
It  may  be  well   for  a  teacher  inexperienced  in  giving 


PRINICPLES  IN  TEACHING  HISTORY  261 

oral  lessons  to  begin  with  a  series  of  short  talks  in  familiar 
homelike  language  about  Columbus  and  his  discovery  of 
America ;  about  Washington,  his  boyhood,  his  life  as  a 
surveyor,  and  his  early  experience  in  Indian  warfare  ;  and 
about  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  a  study  of  the  poverty  and 
hardships  of  pioneer  life  in  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi. 
"  The  oral  treatment  of  such  stories,"  says  McMurry, 
"  when  the  personal  interest,  energy,  and  skill  of  the  teacher 
give  the  facts  and  scenes  an  almost  real  and  tangible 
form  —  this  oral  treatment  is  the  thing  and  the  only  thing 
to  give  a  child  the  best  start  in  historical  study." 

As  an  aid  in  this  direction,  teachers  will  do  well  to 
secure  such  inexpensive  leaflets  of  biography  as  are  found 
in  The  Young  Folks'  Library,  consisting  of  short 
sketches  of  Columbus,  Washington,  and  Lincoln  ;  or  in 
those  in  the  Werner  Biographical  Booklets,  such  as  the 
stories  of  Washington,  Lincoln,  Clay,  Franklin,  and 
Webster,  written  by  Dr.  James  Baldwin.  Teachers  who 
think  they  cannot  learn  to  tell  such  stories  as  these  can  at 
least  make  them  lifelike  by  reading  them  to  their  pupils. 

My  own  faith  in  the  awakening  power  of  oral  lessons  is  made  strong 
from  my  personal  experience  as  a  boy,  as  well  as  by  my  later  experi- 
ence as  a  teacher.  My  own  interest  in  history  began,  when  I  was 
six  or  seven  years  old,  with  stories  about  the  Revolutionary  War 
told  by  my  grandfather  around  the  fireside  on  winter  evenings.  I 
well  remember  my  boyish  admiration  for  him  as  he  told  me  how  he 
ran  away  from  home  when  he  was  only  sixteen,  to  enlist  in  the 
Revolutionary  Army.  And  right  there,  over  the  fireplace,  was  the 
old  flint-lock  gun  that  he  brought  back  from  the  war.  I  also  heard 
many  stories  of  famous  Indian  fights,  handed  down  by  tradition,  for 
my  ancestors  were  New  England  pioneers.  My  oral  lessons  were 
learned  outside  of  school,  but  in  the  true  psychological  method. 
When  a  little  older,  my  interest  in  history  was  intensified  by  a  book 
of  Stories  About  Indians,  which  my  father  gave  me.  That  book  I 
read  and  re-read  until  I  knew  most  of  the  stories  by  heart.     This 


262  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

method,  also,  was  psychologically  correct,  but  it  was  not  then  the 
school  method.  So  lively  was  the  interest  thus  excited  that  I  asked 
the  teacher  to  let  me  join  a  class  of  older  boys  who  were  studying 
history  of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  recollection  of  my  unsatis- 
fied longing  at  this  time  for  more  books  to  read,  which  led  me,  a 
quarter  of  a  century  afterwards,  when  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  in  California,  to  secure  by  the  most  strenuous  efforts,  after 
repeated  failures,  a  state  law  which  reserves  a  small  percentage  of 
the  school  moneys  apportioned  to  each  school  district  to  be  expended 
by  the  trustees  and  teacher  in  buying  library  books.  Into  these 
school  libraries  there  are  now  going,  annually,  thousands  of  volumes 
of  history  stories,  nature  stories,  and  good  literature  for  pupils  and 
also  books  of  reference  for  the  use  of  teachers. 


FOURTH  GRADE  OR  YEAR. 

After  giving  an  oral  lesson,  question  the  children  on 
the  succeeding  day  to  find  out  how  much  they  remember 
about  it.  It  may  be  well  in  this  grade  to  let  pupils  begin 
to  make  notes  of  a  very  few  important  points.  In  country 
schools  taught  by  only  one  teacher,  when  there  are  only 
two  or  three  pupils  in  a  grade,  it  will  be  advisable  to  put 
several  grades  together.  It  will  be  well,  also,  w^hen  the 
teacher  is  crowded  for  time,  to  let  pupils  take  home  some 
suitable  history  stories  from  the  school  library,  if  the 
school  is  provided  with  a  library.  In  graded  city  schools, 
which  are  now  quite  generally  provided  with  sets  of  his- 
tory stories  for  supplementary  reading,  such  books  can  be 
read  in  school  to  supplement  talks  by  the  teacher. 

TOPICS    FOR   ORAL    LESSONS. 

Stories  of  the  settlement  at  Plymouth  by  the  Pilgrims,  and  at 
Boston  by  the  Puritans. 

Stories  of  the  settlement  of  Virginia  at  Jamestown. 
Stories  of  the  settlement  of  Pennsylvania. 


PRINCIPLES  IN  TEACHING  HISTORY  263 

Stories  about  the  settlement  of  the  pupils'  own  state,  city,  or 
town. 

Connect  history  with  geography  by  locating  on  the  map  the  places 
named  in  histor>^  lessons. 

BOOKS    FOR   THE   TEACHER'S  DESK    OR  THE   SCHOOL    LIBRARY. 

Stories  of  Great  Americans  for  Little  Americans. 

Brookes'  Stories  of  the  Old  Bay  State. 

Mowry's  First  Steps  in  the  History^  of  Our  Country. 

Clarke's  Story  of  Caesar. 

Mara  Pratt's  American  History  Stories,  Vol.  I. 

Guerber's  Story  of  the  Greeks. 

McMurr>''s  Pioneer  History  Stories.  (This  book  is  especially  de- 
signed for  schools  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.) 

Wagner's  Pacific  Coast  History  Stories,  Vol.  I.  (This  book  is 
specially  designed  for  schools  in  the  Pacific  Coast  States.) 

Hittell's  Brief  History  of  California,  Vol.  I.  Discovery  and  Early 
Voyages.     (California  Classes.) 

FIFTH  GRADE  OR  YEAR. 

In  this  grade  pupils  may  be  required  not  only  to  put 
into  their  notebooks  a  few  main  points  of  topics  pre- 
sented, but  also,  occasionally,  to  write  out  a  report  of  all 
they  can  remember  in   the  form  of  connected  narrative. 

Topics  for  Talks.  —  The  Settlement  of  New  York.  Stories  about 
Washington,  ending  with  an  account  of  Braddock's  Defeat.  Stories 
about  Benjamin  Franklin.  Story  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  and  his 
attempts  at  settlement.  Settlement  of  the  French  in  Canada.  Settle- 
ment of  the  Spaniards  in  America.  Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez. 
The  Indians  of  America.  Stories  of  Indian  Wars  in  connection  with 
accounts  of  pioneer  life. 

Books  for  Teachers  or  for  School  Libraries.  —  The  following  books 
will  be  useful  to  teachers  either  as  models  of  oral  lessons,  or  as  sources 
from  which  to  make  selections  to  be  read  to  the  class,  and  they  will  be 
useful  in  the  school  library  for  home  reading  by  pupils :  Swinton's 
First  Lessons  in  our  Country's  History.     Eggleston's  Stories  of  Amer- 


264  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

ican  Life  and  Adventure.  Guerber's  Story  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies. 
Wright's  Children's  Stories  of  American  History.  McMurry's  Pioneer 
Histor)'  Stories.  Montgomery's  Beginner's  American  History.  Johon- 
not's  Stories  of  Our  Country.  Dodge's  American  History  Stories. 
Mowry's  First  Steps  in  the  History  of  Our  Country. 

SIXTH  GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

In  schools  provided  with  sets  of  suitable  history  stories, 
oral  lessons  may  be  varied  by  selections  to  be  read  in  class, 
or  at  home,  and  talked  about  in  succeeding  oral  exercises. 

TOPICS   FOR   LESSONS. 

1.  A  more  extended  treatment  of  the  four  great  centers  of  settlement 
in  our  country,  namely:  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  New  York,  and 
Pennsylvania. 

2.  Further  accounts  of  the  settlement  of  the  children's  own  state. 

3.  Stories  of  the  French  and  Indian  War. 

4.  Stories  of  pioneer  life  in  log  cabins. 

5.  Common  schools  in  colonial  times. 

Books  for  Teachers  and  School  Libraries. — Eggleston's  First  Book 
in  American  Histor)'.  Pratt's  American  History  Stories,  Vols.  II  and 
III.  McMurr)''s  Pioneer  History  Stories.  Mowry's  First  Steps  in  the 
History  of  Our  Country. 

SEVENTH  GRADE  OR  YEAR. 

In  many  graded  city  schools,  pupils  in  this  grade  begin 
to  use  some  primary  history  of  the  United  States,  such  as 
Swinton's,  or  Eggleston's,  or  Montgomery's,  or  Mowry's, 
either  as  a  supplementary  reader  or  as  a  text-book  for 
the  formal  and  regular  study  of  the  subject.  In  ungraded 
country  schools,  also,  it  is  desirable,  if  practicable,  that 
some  primary  book  should  be  read  or  studied  by  pupils. 
But  the  use  of  a  book  should  not  be  allowed  to  super- 
sede altogetherthe  oral  lessons  by  the  teacher.     However, 


PRINCIPLES  IN  TEACHING  HISTORY  265 

the  use  of  a  book  will  mainly  determine  the  order  of 
topics.  Teachers  should  now  call  in  the  aid  of  literature 
to  reinforce  history  lessons  by  reading,  for  example, 
*'  Paul  Revere's  Ride,"  "  Grandmother's  Story  of  Bunker 
Hill  Battle,"  "  Lodge's  Story  of  the  Battles  of  Concord, 
and  Lexington,  and  Bunker  Hill."  The  life  of  Washington 
may  be  made  the  thread  on  which  to  string  the  events  of 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Short  biographical  accounts 
should  be  given  of  Franklin,  John  Adams,  Jefferson, 
Putnam,  Greene,  Morgan,  Sumter,  and  other  American 
patriots. 

Books  for  Teachers  or  for  School  Libraries.  —  Scudder's  Life  of 
Washington  ;  Lodge's  Story  of  the  Revolution ;  Mowry's  First  Steps 
in  the  History  of  Our  Country. 

EIGHTH  GRADE  OR  YEAR. 

In  the  eighth  grade,  or  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  grades 
where  the  school  course  includes  nine  years  or  grades,  the 
history  of  our  country  will  be  completed  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  The  manner  of  using  the  adopted  text-book, 
whatever  it  is,  must  be  determined  by  the  judgment  and 
skill  of  the  teacher.  John  Fiske's  History  of  the  United 
States  will  prove  useful,  partly  on  account  of  its  excel- 
lence as  a  schoolbook,  and  partly  on  account  of  the  great 
value  of  the  work  of  Dr.  Hill  in  the  way  of  topical  anal- 
ysis, suggestive  questions  and  directions  for  teachers. 
As  additional  books  of  reference,  use  John  Bach  Mc- 
Master's  School  History  of  the  United  States  (1897); 
also  McMaster's  History  of  the  People  of  the  United 
States,  for  reference. 

HINTS  AND  SUGGESTIONS   ON  TEACHING  HISTORY. 
History   and   geography   are    correlative    studies,   and 


266  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

skillful  teachers  will  make  each  supplement  the  other. 
In  this  study,  more  than  in  most  other  elementary  school 
branches,  the  teacher,  by  his  skill,  tact,  and  stores  of  in- 
formation, can  make  the  subject  one  of  living  interest. 

Assignment  of  Lessons.  —  When  an  advance  lesson  is 
assigned,  call  attention  to  the  leading  points,  and  let 
pupils  note  them  with  pencil  marks.  A  considerable  part 
of  the  history  is  intended,  not  to  be  memorized,  but  only 
to  be  carefully  read.  If  there  are  any  reference  books  in 
the  school  library,  or  if  pupils  have  any  at  home,  suggest 
to  the  class  some  particular  topic  or  topics  about  which 
they  may  find  fuller  information. 

Selection.  —  Of  the  early  discoveries  treated  of  so  fully 
in  most  text-books,  single  out  three  or  four  to  be  studied 
with  care,  and  let  the  remainder  be  read  at  home  or  in 
the  class.  In  the  period  of  settlements,  select  the  four 
great  centers,  namely  :  Virginia,  Massachusetts,  New  York, 
and  Pennsylvania.  So  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  single 
out  a  very  few  marked  events  and  have  them  learned  so 
that  they  cannot  be  forgotten.  Dwell  at  length  on  events 
that  happened  in  the  pupil's  own  state. 

Literature.  —  If  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  is  the  subject 
of  a  history  lesson,  read  to  your  class  the  vivid  picture  of 
it  in  "  Grandmother's  Story  of  Bunker  Hill  Battle  "  by 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  If  the  battles  of  Lexington  and 
Concord  are  included  in  the  lesson,  read  "  Paul  Revere's 
Ride,"  and  the  story  of  these  battles  found  in  Lodge's 
"  Story  of  the  Revolution."  When  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg is  reached,  read  Abraham  Lincoln's  Gettysburg 
Address  and  Bret  Harte's  "  John  Brown  of  Gettysburg." 

Main  Points.  —  Fix  in  the  memory  the  causes  and  the 
results  of  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  the  War  of  i8t2,  the 
War  with  Mexico,  the  Civil  War,  and  the  War  with  Spain  ; 


PRINCIPLES  IN  TEACHING  HISTORY  267 

but  do  not  attempt  to  make  pupils  remember  the  dates  of 
many  battles. 

Chronology. — Do_not__attach  much  importance  to 
chronological  tables,  except  for  reference.  Fix  in  the 
minds  of  the  pupils  the  dates  of  a  few  great  events,  and 
fasten  them  there  by  frequent  reviews.  A  multitude  of 
minor  dates  may  be  temporarily  learned  for  to-day's  les- 
son, only  to  be  crowded  into  oblivion  by  to-morrow's 
recitation.  "  By  means  of  history,"  says  Montaigne, 
''  the  pupil  enjoys  intercourse  with  the  great  men  of  the 
best  periods ;  but  he  must  learn,  not  so  much  the  year 
and  the  day  of  the  destruction  of  a  city,  as  noble  traits  of 
character ;  not  so  much  occurrences,  as  to  form  a  correct 
judgment  upon  them."  A  comprehension  of  the  great 
events  of  history,  of  their  causes,  results,  and  relations,  is 
more  important  than  the  verbatim  memorizing  of  pages 
of  text-books. 

Method.  —  Questions  for  written  examinations  should 
be  confined  strictly  to  leading  events  and  should  include 
veiy'"few  dates.  In  part,  assign  lessons  by  topics,  and 
allow  pupils  to  recite  in  their  own  language.  Close  the 
text-book  yourself,  and  you  will  be  better  satisfied  with 
the  answers  of  pupils.  Supplement  the  dry,  condensed 
statements  of  the  text-book  by  anecdotes,  incidents, 
stories,  and  biographical  sketches  of  noted  men,  drawn 
from  your  own  memory  or  from  books. 

In  his  Essentials  of  Method,  De  Garmo  sums  up  the  serious 
defects  in  the  teaching  of  history  as  follows  :  "  History,  like  geography, 
records  a  wilderness  of  facts.  If  our  analysis  of  right  methods  is 
correct,  these  facts  should  be  grouped,  not  only  so  that  they  may  be 
remembered,  but  so  that  the  lessons  they  should  teach  may  appear  in 
the  consciousness  of  the  learner.  This  is  true,  not  alone  of  the  ethical 
lessons  with  which  history  always  abounds,  but  also  of  the  immediate 
ends  for  which  men  struggle.     When  the  objective  point  for  which  a 


268  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

war,  a  campaign,  or  a  battle  is  conducted  is  once  understood,  it  be- 
comes a  beacon-light  by  which  the  meaning  of  every  movement  may 
be  examined.  Historical  facts  are  then  vitally  related  and  easily  re- 
membered. But  to  require  an  unthinking  memorizing  of  facts,  to  im- 
part a  knowledge  of  whose  rational  connection  and  significance  de- 
pends upon  accident,  and  whose  application  never  appears,  is  to  pursue 
a  method  as  unpedagogical  as  it  is  easy." 

Outlines  of  the  World's  History.  —  There  seems  to  be 
no  good  reason  why  pupils  in  the  grammar  school  should 
not  learn  something  about  the  history  of  the  world.  By 
means  of  ^ral  lessons  many  thoughtful  teachers  are  giving 
their  pupils  general  outlines  of  the  great  events  of  the^ 
past.  There  are  many  more  who  would  give  such  lessons 
were  they  authorized  to  do  so  by  the  course  of  study. 
There  are  many  educators  who  would  welcome  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  small  handbook  of  general  history  suited 
to  the  needs,  not  of  high-school  pupils,  but  of  boys  and 
girls  in  the  highest  grade  of  the  common  schools. 


CHAPTER  IX 

NATURAL  METHODS  IN  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY 

The  following  rough  outlines  of  a  course  by  grades 
consists  chiefly  of  practical  hints  and  suggestions  about 
modern  methods  now  generally  pursued  in  teaching  this 
subject. 

SECOND  AND  THIRD  GRADES  OR  YEARS. 

Oral  Lessons.  —  As  no  text-books  are  used  by  pupils 
in  these  grades,  oral  instruction  must  be  given  by  the 
teacher.  In  accordance  with  psychological  method,  a 
beginning  should  be  made  by  a  study  of  that  small  part 
of  the  earth  which  children  see  daily  at  school  or  at  home. 
Pupils  should  be  taken  to  some  good  points  of  view  near 
the  schoolhouse  and  their  attention  directed  to  such 
natural  divisions  of  land  and  water  as  they  can  there 
see.  In  this  way  pupils  may  be  made  familiar  with  hill, 
mountain,  valley,  plain,  brook,  river,  etc.  They  can  make 
a  real  study  that  will  fill  their  minds  with  pictures  which 
may  afterwards  be  used  in  forming  conceptions  of  things 
that  are  represented  by  pictures,  or  described  in  words. 

The  attention  of  pupils  should  be  called  to  the  phe- 
nomena of  day  and  night,  sunrise  and  sunset,  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars,  clouds,  wind,  dew,  rain,  frost,  snow,  and 
ice.  This  will  set  them  to  thinking  about  the  causes  of 
what  they  observe.  They  should  begin  to  collect  speci- 
mens of  plants,  and  to  learn  the  names  of  trees  that  grow 

in  the  neighborhood  of  the  school.     If  there  is  a  mill,  or 

269 


2/0  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

factory  or  blacksmith's  shop  in  the  vicinity,  the  class  should 
be  taken  on  a  visit  to  it.  In  rural  schools,  pupils  should 
make  out  lists  of  all  the  food  products  grown  on  the  farms 
of  the  neighborhood,  lists  of  the  birds  in  the  vicinity,  of 
the  occupations  by  which  the  people  earn  their  living,  etc. 

The  importance  of  this  kind  of  introductory  teaching  is  emphasized 
by  M.  Elisee  Reclus  as  follows  :  **  Certainly  we  must  always  take  as  a 
starting-point  what  the  child  sees  ;  but  does  he  see  nothing  more  than 
the  school  and  the  village  ?  That  is  the  tip  of  his  abode  ;  he  also  sees 
the  infinite  heavens,  the  sun,  stars,  and  moon.  He  sees  the  storms, 
the  clouds,  the  rain,  the  distant  horizon,  the  mountains,  the  hills,  the 
downs  or  simple  undulations,  and  the  trees  and  shrubs.  Let  him 
attentively  notice  all  these  things,  and  let  them  be  described  to  him. 
This  is  real  geography,  and  to  learn  the  child  has  not  to  go  beyond 
the  things  which  surround  him,  and  which  are  exhibited  to  him  in 
their  infinite  variety." 

Further  than  this,  a  few  lessons  may  be  given  in  connection  with 
the  school  globe,  showing  the  shape  of  the  earth,  the  rotation  of  the 
earth,  the  continents  and  the  oceans. 

Helps  for  Teachers.  —  Among  numerous  good  books  for  use  by 
teachers  there  is  one  that  reaches  the  high-water  mark  of  modem 
elementary  instruction  in  geography  —  Redway  and  Hinman's  Na- 
tural Elementary  Geography.  Suggestive  exercises  for  beginners 
will  be  found  in  Geographical  Nature  Studies  by  Frank  Owen  Payne, 
and  in  McMurry's  Special  Course  in  Geography. 

FOURTH   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

In  this  grade  a  Primary  Geography  is  usually  placed  in 
the  hands  of  pupils,  though  in  some  schools,  the  use  of 
a  text-book  is  postponed  until  the  fifth  year.  The  intro- 
ductory pages  of  local  geography  will  naturally  be  suc- 
ceeded by  special  oral  lessons  on  town,  city,  and  state 
geography,  and  by  an  extension  of  the  nature  study 
begun  in  previous  grades.  Pupils  should  now  begin  to 
study  maps  and  to  draw  rough  outlines.     The  wall-maps 


NATURAL  METHOD  IN  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY     27 1 

most  needed  for  school  use  will  be  a  county  map,  a  state 
map,  the  United  States,  North  America,  and  the  hemi- 
spheres. A  little  modeling  with  clay  or  sand  is  desirable 
if  conditions  and  surroundings  are  favorable. 

The  inductive  lessons  on  home  and  state  geography 
must  soon  be  followed  by  a  general  view  of  the  earth  as  a 
whole,  its  great  natural  divisions  of  land  and  water,  its  im- 
aginary divisions,  and  some  of  its  political  divisions.  The 
psychological  or  inductive  method  must  be  carried  along 
with  the  logical  or  formal  method.  Pupils  must  now 
begin  to  pass  from  the  home-world  of  direct  perception 
to  a  broader  world,  pictured  in  imagination  after  a  study 
of  maps,  descriptions,  and  pictorial  representation. 
Teachers  should  take  great  pains  in  training  pupils  how 
to  study  text-book  lessons.  No  intelligent  teacher  will 
follow  the  old  method  of  requiring  pupils  to  memorize  in 
detached  lessons,  the  entire  text-book.  There  are  some 
things  in  the  text-book  that  should  be  memorized,  but 
much  of  the  text  is  only  to  be  read,  or  to  be  used  for  ref- 
erence. The  skill  of  the  teacher  will  be  shown  by  a  wise 
grouping  of  important  things.  The  work  to  be  done  must 
necessarily  be  determined,  in  part,  by  the  kind  of  a  text- 
book in  use. 

Out-of-door  Studies.— I^f^_£ossible,  pupils  should^  be 
taken  on  excursions  to  pointsoi  mterestin  the  neighbor- 
-fKFSH,  or  the  surroundmg  country?  1  hey  must  be  shown 
how  to  study  the  plants  ajid  animals  which  they  see  with 


leTr  own  UVt^s  :  to  observe  the  farms,  gardens,  shops, 
factories,  and  the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  people  among 
whom  they  live.  De  Garmo  says  :  ''  Geographical  instruc- 
tion must,  above  all,  stimulate  the  creation  of  vivid 
mental  pictures  which  shall  come  close  to  the  reality.  To 
awaken  and  to  form  pictures  of  the  imagination  must  be 


272  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

considered  the  great  purpose  of  geography,  however  dif- 
ficult the  task  may  be." 

Helps  for  Teachers  —  Redway  and  Hinman's  Natural 
Elementary  Geography. 

FIFTH   GRADE   OR   YEAR. 

The  study  of  local  state  geography  should  be  a  con- 
tinuation and  extension  of  the  work  of  the  preceding 
grade.  In  accordance  with  the  arrangement  of  most  text- 
books, it  will  be  advisable  for  the  class  to  take  up  the 
study  of  North  America  as  a  whole,  and  of  the  United 
States  as  a  whole,  and  by  sections. 

Map  Drawing.  —  Special  attention  should  be  given  to 
the  proper  study  of  maps,  and  to  map-drawing.  In  gen- 
eral, blackboard  map-drawing  in  the  rou.gh_is  better  than 
labored  drawings  with  pen  or  pencil.  Map-drawing 
should  not  be  made  a  hobby ;  kept  within  due  limits,  the 
exercise  is  good,  but  it  often  runs  into  a  waste  of  time 
and  labor.  Let  pupils  draw  upon  the  blackboard,  from 
the  open  book,  on  a  large  scale,  an  outline  map  of  their 
own  state,  and,  if  possible,  of  their  own  country.  Then 
them  let  outline  the  grand  divisions.  Finally  require  them 
to  outline  off-hand,  from  memory.  The  school  globe 
should  be  used  to  enable  pupils  to  form  a  correct  idea  of 
the  relative  position  on  the  earth  of  the  continents  and 
oceans  represented  on  maps.    Clay  modeling  if  practicable. 

What  to  Omit.  —  As  school  geographies  are  designed 
for  use  in  all  parts  of  our  country,  they  are  necessarily 
crowded  with  details  to  meet  the  wants  of  each  state  or 
locality.  The  sensible  teacher  will  omit  all  that  belongs 
to  the  local  or  special  geography  of  states  other  than  that 
in  which  the  pupils  reside.     Do  not  expect  children  to 


NATURAL  METHOD  IN  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY     273 

know  more  of  a  lesson  than  you  remember  without  re- 
ferring to  the  text-book.  If  you  forget  details,  it  is  a  sure 
sign  that  your  pupils  will  forget  them,  and  therefore  it  is 
best  not  to  require  such  details  to  be  learned  at  all. 

If  oral  lessons  in  history  are  given  to  pupils,  or  if  some 
book  of  history  stories  is  used  for  supplementary  reading, 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  suggest  that  all  places  of  early 
settlement  in  our  country,  or  other  places  marked  by  im- 
portant events  should  be  located  on  the  map. 

In  addition  to  North  America  and  the  United  States, 
it  is  desirable  that  there  should  be  some  study  of  Europe, 
on  account  of  our  commercial  relations  with  European 
countries.  Special  attention  should  be  given  to  the  Brit- 
ish Isles.  If  the  Primary  Geography  is  to  be  completed 
in  this  grade,  a  few  general  lessons  will  be  required  on 
South  America,  Asia,  and  Africa.  For  reference  and 
reading.  Carpenter's  Geographical  Reader  —  North 
America. 

SIXTH   GRADE   OR   YEAR. 

In  this  grade  pupils  generally  begin  the  use  of  the 
larger  or  complete  text-book.  Some  attention  must  be 
given  to  the  introductory  lessons  and  to  the  outlines  of 
mathematical  and  physical  geography.  The  United 
States  should  be  taken  up  by  groups  or  sections. 

Main  Points.  —  Pupils  are  not  expected  to  learn  the 
boundaries  of  all  the  states  nor  even  to  name  all  the  capitals. 
But  they  should  be  able  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  name 
the  leading  products  of  each  group  of  states ;  to  locate 
from  two  to  five  of  the  chief  cities  in  each  group,  and  to 
locate  the  chief  rivers  of  commercial  importance.  Also 
to  name  the  chief  mountain  ranges  and  the  most  impor- 

AM.    PUB.    SCH. — 18 


274  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

tant  rivers  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  and  to  name 
the  leading  industries  of  each  group  of  states. 

Special  Topics.  —  The  major  topic  of  the  class  should 
be  the  geography  of  Europe.  The  following  are  a  few 
among  many  special  topics  to  be  studied  by  pupils : 

(a)  London,  as  the  center  of  the  world's  commerce. 
{b)  Glasgow,  for  building  iron  ships, 
(r)  Manchester,  as  a  typical  manufacturing  center. 
{d)  Paris,  the  city  of  arts. 
(<?)  The  scenery  of  Switzerland. 
(/)  The  scenery  of  the  Rhine. 
(^)  Rome  and  its  architecture. 

{h)  The  Mediterranean  Sea,  its  commercial  and  historical  impor- 
tance, etc. 

SEVENTH   GRADE   OR  YEAR. 

The  work  in  this  grade  should  include  a  general  study 
of  Asia,  Africa,  South  America,  Australia,  and  the  island 
groups  of  the  Pacific.  The  main  topics  for  Asia  will  be 
British  India,  China,  and  Japan ;  of  Africa,  the  gold  and 
diamond  mines  of  South  Africa,  Egypt,  the  Nile,  the 
pyramids,  and  ruined  temples;  of  South  America,  the 
Andes,  the  Amazon,  Brazil,  Chili,  Peru,  and  the  Argen- 
tine Republic ;  of  Australia,  its  peculiar  animals  and 
plants,  its  gold  mines,  and  stock  farms. 

EIGHTH   AND   NINTH   YEARS. 

Some  time  should  be  given  to  a  detailed  study  of  the 
political  geography  of  the  United  States.  The  main  work 
should  include  a  special  study  of  physical  geography,  and 
of  the  commercial  relations  of  different  countries.  Teach- 
ers will  find  The  Natural  Advanced  Geography,  by 
Red  way  and  Hinman  (1898),  a  desirable  guide  in  teaching 


NATURAL  METHOD  IN  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY     275 

geography  in  the  seventh,  eighth,  and  ninth  grades,  sup- 
plemented by  any  other  modern  text-books  at  hand. 

HINTS  AND  SUGGESTIONS  ON  METHODS. 

Value.  —  Geography  is  a  treatment- of maa's  material 
relations  to  the  earth  on  which  he  dwells.  It  is  an  intro- 
duction to  the  political,  industrial,  commercial,  and  social 
relations  of  mankind.  It  is  a  medium  through  which 
pupils  can  be  led  into  elementary  science  work.  It  is  an 
important  aid  in  the  study  of  history.  William  T. 
Harris  says,  in  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Fifteen 
(1895)  :  "About  one  fourth  of  the  material  relates  strictly 
to  the  geography ;  about  one  half  to  the  inhabitants, 
their  manners,  customs,  institutions,  industries,  produc- 
tions ;  and  the  remaining  fourth  to  mineralogy,  meteor- 
ology, botany,  zoology,  and  astronomy.'* 

Method.  —  During  the  past  ten  years  there  has  been  a 
marked  advance  in  the  general  method  of  teaching  ele- 
mentary geography.  In  the  latest  school  text-books  the 
subject  is  introduced  in  a  psychological  rnanner,  that  is, 
by  directing  the  attention  of  children  to  the  phenomena 
of  earth,  air,  and  water,  about  which  they  already  know 
something.  Topography  has  been  simplified,  and  more 
space  is  given  to  the  industrial  and  commercial  relations 
of  mankind,  and  to  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  earth. 

In  criticising  the  common  method  of  teaching  geography,  De  Garmo 
says  in  Essentials  of  Method :  "  But  perhaps  the  most  serious  fault 
of  the  current  methods  of  teaching  geography  is,  that  the  child  is  not 
taught  to  look  within  and  beyond  the  individual  fact  he  learns.  The 
subject  remains  in  its  individual  stage.  There  is  no  passing  from  in- 
dividual to  general  notions,  no  application  of  geographical  principles 
to  new  particulars.  For  this  reason,  no  geographical  fact  appears  to 
have  more  than  a  momentary  and  accidental  relation  to  any  other. 


2/6  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

Facts  are  learned  only  to  be  forgotten,  or  to  lie  in  the  soul  isolated 
and  devoid  of  significance." 

Essentials.  —  It  fs  essential  that  teachers  should  keep 
clearly  in  view  the  main  things  whicli  ought  t'o^Be  learned 
"so  well  that  they  will  be  retained  for  life.  These  should 
be  welded  into  a  chain  of  relations  and  associations.  For 
instance,  it  is  important  for  pupils  to  connect  history 
with  geography  by  learning  the  geographical  situation  of 
places  marked  by  events  of  great  historical  importance. 
It  is  evident  that  pupils  should  know  the  location  of  cities 
and  countries  most  frequently  mentioned  in  newspapers 
as  they  report  the  daily  history  of  the  world.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  the  geography  of  Europe  is  vastly  more  im- 
portant than  the  geography  of  Africa,  South  America,  or 
Asia.  It  is  important  to  know  something  about  the  great 
trade  centers  of  our  country,  such  as  New  York,  Chicago, 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco,  etc.  ;  it  is  unimpor- 
tant to  know  the  exact  location  of  Timbuktu,  Haidar- 
abad,  Ujiji,  or  Chingtu. 

Natural  Science.  —  As  about  one  fourth  of  the  matter 
in  school  text-books  on  geography  relates  to  botany, 
zoology,  mineralogy,  meteorology,  and  astronomy,  it  is 
evident  that  lessons  in  geography  are  closely  connected 
with  lessons  in  natural  science.  The  disconnected  facts 
as  they  appear  in  the  description  of  the  plants  and 
minerals  of  different  countries  must  be  gathered  into  con- 
nected groups  in  the  lessons  on  nature  study.  The  cor- 
relation of  geography  and  history  is  self-evident  and  needs 
only  to  be  mentioned. 

Examinations.  —  In  schools  where  promotions  from 
one  grade  to  another  are  made  by  means  of  written  ex- 
aminations, the  questions  given  by  principals  or  superin- 
tendents will  of  necessity  mainly  determine  the  kind  of 


NATURAL  METHOD  IN  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY 


277 


instruction  which  will  be  given  by  teachers.  If  the 
questions  are  chiefly  on  unimportant  details,  the  teaching 
wnr  run  in  that  direction,  and  all  hope  of  reform  will  be 
vain. 

The  Modem  View.  —  In  a  recent  paper  read  before  a  meeting  of  the 
Chicago  school  principals  (1898),  Colonel  Parker  said:  "  The  most 
essential  truth  in  modern  psychology  is  the  doctrine  of  ajJBerception. 
which  is  that  ever}^  image  consists  of  an  expansion  and  concentration' 
of  images  already  in  the  mind  ;  that  fundamental  images  are  gained 
through  the  senses  ;  and  the  function  of  the  text-book  is  the  union  of 
such  images  into  wholes.  The  best  schoolhouse  on  earth  is  out  of 
doors.  Descriptions  of  things  cannot  take  the  place  of  actual  contact 
with  the  reality.  The  line  of  progress  in  the  future  must  have  its  root 
in  out-door  work.  Field  excursions  have  a  stimulating  influence. 
Children  must  see  the  animal  in  its  habitat,  the  tree  with  its  surround- 
ings, must  feel  the  earth  under  their  feet.  The  history  of  the  earth  is 
written  in  its  surface  —  erosion  of  river  valleys,  the  making  and  mix- 
ing of  soils,  the  washing  of  the  surface,  and  countless  other  interest- 
ing and  profitable  problems  are  ours  to  study.  A  child  must  go 
through  the  same  process  eventually  in  arriving  at  truth  as  scientists 
do,  though  he  may  be  so  guided  that  his  line  of  resistance  is  shorter, 
but  human  development  has  forever  the  same  laws,  and  at  the  base  of 
these  laws  is  the  great  one  of  self-activity." 

•'  It  is  extraordinary,"  says  President  Eliot,  "  what  interest  and  train- 
ing power  are  imparted  to  geography  simply  by  the  addition  of  one 
means,  namely,  photographs  of  scenery.  There  is  no  point  in  refer- 
ence to  the  formation  of  plains  and  plateaus,  of  mountains  and  valleys, 
of  lakes  and  rivers,  which  cannot  be  beautifully  illustrated  by  photo- 
graphs. I  say,  therefore,  that  the  grammar  school  of  the  future  will 
have  within  its  walls  a  large  assortment  of  models,  charts,  maps, 
globes,  and  photographs  for  the  teaching  of  geography." 


CHAPTER  X 
THE  NATURAL  METHOD  IN  NATURE  STUDIES 

Nature  study  was  begun  in  the  schools  of  this  country 
in  the  form  of  "  object  lessons,"  introduced  from  the 
schools  of  England.  These  lessons  partook  largely  of 
English  formalism.  As  indicated  by  the  early  text-books, 
the  leading  aim  was  to  crowd  great  masses  of  *'  facts  " 
upon  children.  In  the  Oswego  normal  school  the  method 
was  made  successful  by  Mr.  Sheldon,  and  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  by  Mr.  Calkins.  But  in  the  hands  of  unskilled 
teachers  object  lessons  often  became  a  dead  formalism. 
Still  they  led  up  to  nature  study  which,  during  the  past 
ten  years,  has  been  so  generally  pressed  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  teachers. 

The  desirability,  not  to  say  the  necessity,  of  beginning 
in  the  earliest  years  of  school  life  some  course  of  instruc- 
tion in  nature  study  is  now  generally  recognized  and 
acted  upon.  It  is  impracticable  to  mark  out  definitely 
any  course  adapted  to  the  diverse  conditions  of  differ- 
ent schools. 

One  teacher  will  make  a  special  study  of  plant  life ;  an- 

other,  of  animal  life;    a   third   may    choose    metals  and 

minerals ;  a  fourth,   physics.     Whatever  line  of  work  is 

taken  will  prove  profitable,  if  it  is  patiently  carried  out 

in  a   spirit    of    scientific   observation  and   investigation. 

The  elaborate  courses  that  are  successfully  carried  out  in 

the  small  classes  of  normal  training  schools  will  fail  in  the 

crowded  classes  of  city  primary  schools.     The  needs  of  a 

278 


THE  NATURAL  METHOD  IN  NATURE  STUDIES 


279 


small  country  school  having  all  grades  of  pupils  and  only 
one  teacher  are  widely  different  from  the  wants  of  city 
classes.  All  that  I  purpose  to  do,  therefore,  is  to  offer 
a  few  hints,  and  make  a  few  rough  outlines  which  may 
possibly  be  of  some  use  to  teachers  that  attempt  to  lead 
their  pupils  in  the  paths  of  nature  study. 

FIRST  AND  SECOND   GRADES  OR  YEARS. 

From  some  suitable  book  on  nature  study  select  a  few 
lessons  and  read  them  to  the  children,  or  better  still,  learn 
the  lessons  and  tell  the  story  in  your  own  words.  In 
season,  plant  in  flower-pots  a  few  sweet-peas,  beans,  and 
grains  of  wheat,  etc.,  and  let  the  children  watch  their 
growth.  Give,  occasionally,  an  object  lesson  on  fruits  and 
flowers.  If  you  take  the  Primary  School  Journal,  select 
from  it  such  exercises  as  you  find  available.  Start  con- 
versation lessons  about  frogs  and  fishes.  If  possible,  take 
the  children  where  they  can  see  live  frogs  and  fishes  in 
their  native  element. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  there  have  been  published 
large  numbers  of  nature  stories  and  nature  studies,  de- 
signed to  meet  the  needs  of  children  in  primary  grades. 
They  have  been  written,  in  general,  by  teachers  engaged 
for  years  in  instructing  young  children.  They  are  charm- 
ing in  style  and  in  illustration.  They  are  also  psycho- 
logical in  general  method.  Secure  some  of  these  inex- 
pensive books  and  study  them  as  models  for  your  own 
oral  lessons.  If  you  have  little  or  no  time  for  preparing 
oral  lessons,  begin  your  work  by  reading  short  extracts 
from  some  one  of  these  books.  In  time  you  will  become 
interested  in  your  work,  and  will  make  up  your  own  ex- 
ercises. 


280  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

THIRD  AND  FOURTH  GRADES. 

Plant  Life.  —  Ask  the  children  to  plant  at  home,  in 
flower-pots,  boxes,  or  garden  beds,  peas,  beans,  wheat,  and 
corn.  Ask  them  to  make  a  memorandum  of  the  date  of 
planting,  and  of  the  date  when  they  come  up,  and  re- 
port in  writing  to  the  teacher.  Then  ask  them  to  make, 
once  a  week,  a  rough  drawing  of  the  appearance  of  each 
plant,  and  hand  it  in  to  the  teacher.  It  will  add  to  the 
interest  of  this  lesson  if  the  teacher  will  plant  a  few  of  the 
same  kinds  of  seeds,  dig  up  one,  from  time  to  time,  and 
show  pupils  the  progress  of  germination.  Take  into 
school  specimens  of  plants,  leaves,  and  flowers,  distribute 
them  to  pupils,  and  show  them  how  to  make  a  study  of 
them.  Let  pupils  begin  to  make  rough  outline  sketches 
of  leaves,  plants,  and  flowers  from  objects.  The  teacher's 
desk  should  be  supplied  with  an  inexpensive  magnifying 
glass,  to  be  used  by  pupils,  or  children  should  be  en- 
couraged to  buy  glasses  for  themselves.  Set  the  pupils 
to  observing  forms  of  plant  life  in  the  gardens  and  fields. 
Ask  them  to  bring  in  lists  of  all  kinds  of  trees  they  can 
find,  etc. 

The  teacher  will  do  well  to  use  as  a  handbook,  Bailey's  First  Les- 
sons with  Plants.  In  this  little  volume,  Professor  L.  H.  Bailey,  of 
Cornell  University  has  fully  sustained  his  reputation  as  the  author  of 
numerous  books  on  horticulture  and  agriculture,  and  of  the  school 
bulletins  on  plant  life  that  have  been  so  widely  distributed  among  the 
common  schools  in  the  state  of  New  York.  In  his  preface  to  this 
book  the  author  remarks  that  the  lessons  are  designed  to  awaken  an 
interest  in  plants  and  in  nature  rather  than  to  teach  botany.  When 
the  teacher  thinks  chiefly  of  his  subject,  he  teaches  a  science  ;  when 
he  thinks  chiefly  of  the  pupil,  he  teaches  nature  study.  Mr.  Bailey 
sets  forth  four  chief  requisites  in  nature  study  if  the  pupil  is  to  catch 
inspiration  from  it  : 

"  ( I ) .  The  subject  itself  must  interest  the  pupil.    This  means  that  the 


THE  NATURAL  METHOD  IN  NATURE  STUDIES    28 1 

instruction  begins  witli  the  commonest  things,  with  those  which  are 
actually  a  part  of  the  pupil's  life. 

"  (2).  The  pupil  must  feel  that  the  work  is  his,  and  that  he  is  the  in- 
vestigator. 

'•  (3) .  Little  should  be  attempted  at  a  time.  One  thought  or  one  sug- 
gestion may  be  enough  for  one  day.  The  suggestion  that  insects 
have  six  legs  is  sufficient  for  one  lesson.  We  obscure  the  importance 
of  common  things  by  cramming  the  mind  with  facts.  When  the  pupil 
is  taught  to  take  systematic  notes  upon  what  the  teacher  says,  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  lesson  is  worth  the  while,  as  nature  study. 

"  (4).  The  less  rigid  the  system  of  teaching  and  the  fewer  the  set 
tasks,  the  more  spontaneous  and,  therefore,  the  better,  is  the  result.  A 
codified  system  of  examinations  will  choke  the  life  out  of  nature 
study." 

Animal  Life.  —  Observation  studies  on  bees,  or  ants, 
or  butterflies,  first,  at  home,  or  in  field  or  garden  ;  after- 
wards, in  school.  In  season,  secure  a  few  cocoons  and  let 
the  children  watch  the  transformation  of  the  chrysalis  into 
a  butterfly.  In  tadpole  season,  ask  the  boys  to  catch  a 
few  polliwogs  and  bring  them  to  school  in  a  glass  jar 
filled  with  water.  Then  set  the  whole  class  on  the  watch 
to  see  the  wonderful  transformation  of  the  tadpole  into 
a  frog. 

Miscellaneous.  —  Take  incidental  lessons  on  various 
kinds  of  fruits,  in  season  ;  on  the  thermometer  and  the 
weather  changes  of  heat  and  cold,  rain  and  snow,  winds 
and  clouds,  etc.  On  the  moon  and  its  phases;  on  iron, 
gold,  and  coal,  etc.  Rough  outline  drawings  of  suitable 
objects  under  investigation.  Read  to  pupils  nature  stories 
from  selected  books,  and  afterwards  lend  the  books  to  the 
children.  If  possible,  take  your  class  out  into  city  parks 
or  country''  fields  and  woods  to  study  nature  at  first  hand. 

FIFTH  AND    SIXTH  GRADES. 

Plant  Life.  —  Special  study  of  a  few  common  wild  flow- 


282  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

ers,  such  as :  the  violet,  buttercup,  and  wild  rose ;  of  the 
blossoms  of  fruit  trees,  such  as  :  the  apple,  peach,  pear, 
and  plum  ;  the  growth  of  plants,  etc.  As  a  handbook 
use  Bailey's  First  Lessons  with  Plants. 

Animal  Life.  —  Typical  specimens  of  radiates  and  mol- 
lusks,  such  as  :  the  star-fish,  the  clam,  or  the  oyster ;  in- 
sect life,  such  as  bees  or  ants  ;  bird  life,  as  shown  by  the 
birds  of  the  neighborhood. 

Metals  and  Minerals.  —  Short  lessons  on  common  rocks 
such  as  granite,  sandstone,  marble,  slate,  etc.  ;  metals  such 
as  iron,  copper,  lead,  etc.  Encourage  pupils  to  begin  the 
collection  of  a  school  cabinet.  Observation  lessons  in 
connection  with  geography. 

Physiology  and  Hygiene.  —  Rules  of  health  in  respect 
to  wholesome  food,  pure  air,  and  personal  cleanliness. 
Effects  of  narcotic  and  alcoholic  stimulants. 

SEVENTH  TO  NINTH  GRADES. 

Plant  Life.  —  As  a  guide  to  pupils  who  are  to  be  put 
to  a  real  study  of  nature,  the  teacher  will  do  well  to  use 
Bailey's  Lessons  with  Nature,  which  is  the  larger  book 
of  which  the  First  Lessons  is  an  abridgment.  For  use 
in  rural  schools  and  as  a  library  book  this  volume  is  un- 
equaled.  The  preface  is  in  itself  a  good  manual  of  sug- 
gestions. 

In  connection  with  geography,  the  teacher  can  take  up 
occasional  lessons  on  the  distribution  of  plant  and  animal 
life  on  the  globe.  The  wise  teacher  will  be  in  no  haste 
to  begin  technical  botany  by  classifying  plants.  First  in 
order  of  study  comes  empirical  knowledge ;  afterwards 
scientific  knowledge  and  nomenclature.  Beginners  store 
up  facts  by  items,  often  in  an  indirect   and    desultory 


THE  NATURAL  METHOD  IN  NATURE  STUDIES 


283 


manner.  Mere  text-book  study  of  natural  science,  with- 
out observation  and  experiment  by  the  pupils,  is  not 
knowledge.  The  real  guide  to  true  knowledge  is  a  habit 
of  observing.  Agassiz  says,  "  The  difficult  art  of  thinking, 
of  comparing,  of  discriminating,  can  be  more  readily  ac- 
quired by  examining  natural  objects  for  ourselves  than  in 
any  other  way." 

Physics.  —  The  extent  to  which  elementary  lessons 
in  physics  can  be  carried  depends  upon  conditions,  but 
something  can  be  done  in  any  school.  Experiments  can 
be  made  with  the  simplest  kind  of  improvised  apparatus. 
Encourage  pupils  to  make  simple  experiments  at  home  or 
by  themselves. 

Physical  Geography.  —  Climatic  zones  and  their  effect 
on  the  distribution  of  animal  and  vegetable  life.  The 
sea  and  its  inhabitants.  Ocean  currents  and  their  effect 
on  climate. 

Real  Work.  —  By  well-put  questions,  set  pupils  to  ob- 
serving the  habits  of  animals  and  birds,  of  ants,  bees, 
wasps,  flies,  and  butterflies.  Persuade  them  to  buy  a 
magnifying  glass  or  a  cheap  microscope,  and  begin  ex- 
amining things  for  themselves.  If  you  wish  to  succeed, 
you  must  do  the  actual  work  of  the  naturalist,  and  must 
make  your  pupils  do  it.  You  must  fit  yourself  to  do  this 
work  by  taking  an  interest  in  it.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary 
that  you  should  be  a  specialist  in  botany,  zoology,  or 
natural  philosophy ;  but  it  is  essential  that  you  should 
know  something  about  the  true  methods  of  the  specialist. 
Taken  up  in  the  right  spirit,  instruction  in  the  natural 
sciences  can  be  made  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of 
education. 

"  The  first  teaching  a  child  wants,"  says  Huxley,  "  is  an  object- 
lesson  of  one  sort  or  another  ;  and  as  soon  as  it  is  fit  for  systematic 


284  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

instruction,  it  is  fit  for  a  modicum  of  science.  If  not  snubbed  and 
stunted  by  being  told  not  to  ask  foolish  questions,  there  is  no  limit  to 
the  intellectual  craving  of  a  young  child,  nor  any  bounds  to  the  slow 
but  solid  accretion  of  knowledge,  and  the  development  of  the  think- 
ing faculty  in  this  way." 

Charles  W.  Eliot  says  in  the  Unity  of  Educational  Reform  :  "  Into 
the  curricula  of  schools  and  colleges  alike,  certain  new  matters  have 
of  late  years  been  introduced,  for  teaching  which  the  older  methods 
of  instruction  —  namely,  the  lecture  and  the  recitation  —  proved  to  be 
inadequate,  or  even  totally  inapplicable.  These  new  matters  are 
chiefly  object-lessons  in  color  and  form,  drawing  and  modeling, 
natural  sciences  like  botany,  zoology,  chemistry,  physics,  min- 
eralogy, and  geology,  and  various  kinds  of  manual  training.  In 
school  and  college  alike  the  real  effective  teaching  in  all  these  sub- 
jects is  that  which  is  addressed  to  each  individual  pupil.  The  old- 
fashioned  method  of  teaching  science  by  means  of  illustrated  books 
and  demonstrative  lectures  has  been  superseded,  from  the  kinder- 
garten to  the  university  by  the  laboratory  method,  in  which  each 
pupil,  no  matter  whether  he  be  three  years  old  or  twenty-three,  works 
with  his  own  hands  and  is  taught  to  use  his  own  senses." 

Nature  Study  for  Grammar  Grades  (1899),  by  Wilbur  S.  Jackman 
of  the  Department  of  Natural  Science,  Chicago  Normal  School,  is  an  in- 
valuable book  for  teachers  that  desire  to  undertake  substantial  prac- 
tical work.  The  author  in  his  preface  sets  forth  general  principles 
worth  keeping  clearly  in  mind.  "  That  pupils  need  some  rational 
and  definite  directions  in  nature  study,  all  are  generally  agreed.  But 
to  prepare  the  outlines  and  suggestive  directions  necessary,  and  to 
place  these  within  the  reach  of  each  pupil,  is  more  than  the  ordinary 
teacher  has  time  to  do,  even  granting  that  she  is  fully  prepared  for  such 
work.  With  a  manual  of  directions  in  hand,  each  pupil  may  be  made 
responsible  for  a  certain  amount  of  work,  either  in  the  field  or  in  the 
laboratory.  The  author  would  suggest  that  the  teacher  assign  a 
certain  topic  and  then  give  appropriate  opportunity  for  the  pupils  to 
study  it,  either  in  the  field  or  in  the  laboratory,  along  the  lines  sug- 
gested in  the  book.  After  such  study,  the  pupils  will  be  prepared  to 
meet  in  general  class  discussion,  and  the  subsequent  steps,  drawing, 
painting,  modeling,  writing,  etc.,  may  follow  in  proper  order." 

Helpful  Books  for  Beginners. — Burt's  Little  Nature  Stories  for  Little 
People  ;  Morley's  Seed  Babies  ;  Deane's  Little  Talks  About  Plants  ; 


THE  NATURAL  METHOD  IN  NATURE  STUDIES    285 

Burt's  Nature  Stories — Plant  Life  and  Animal  Life ;  Bailey's  First 
Lessons  With  Plants ;  Herrick's  Chapters  on  Plant  Life ;  Kirby's 
Stories  About  Birds  ;  Miller's  Little  Brothers  of  the  Air ;  Andersen's 
Stories  Mother  Nature  told  her  Children  ;  Strong's  All  the  Year 
Round,  Four  Parts — Spring,  Summer,  Autumn,  Winter ;  Johonnot's 
Feathers  and  Fur,  and  Claws  and  Hoofs ;  Kelly's  Short  Stories  of 
our  Shy  Neighbors. 

Helpful  Books  for  Grammar  Grades. — Bailey's  Lessons  with  Plants 
(1898);  Herrick's  Chapters  on  Plant  Life ;  Needham's  Outdoor  Studies  ; 
Burt's  Birds  and  Bees  (from  John  Burroughs) ;  Newell's  Reader  in 
Botany,  Vols.  I  and  H  ;  Scudder's  Life  of  a  Butterfly;  Seaside  and 
Wayside  Series,  Vol.  Ill  (for  4th  and  5th  Grades)  ;  Vol.  IV 
(For  5th  to  9th  Grades)  ;  Dana's  Plants  and  their  Children  (7th  to  9th 
Grades). 

Reference  Books  for  Teachers  in  Graded  Schools.  Mrs.  L.  L.  Wilson's 
Nature  Study  in  Elementary  Schools ;  Boydon's  Nature  Study 
by  Months  (1898)  ;  Jackman's  Nature  Study  in  Grammar  Grades 
(1889);  John  Muir's  Mountains  of  California;  E.  S.  Thompson's 
Wild  Animals  that  I  have  Known. 


CHAPTER    XI 
MODERN  VIEWS  ON  PHYSICAL  CULTURE 

One  of  the  most  hopeful  features  of  modern  education 
is  the  growing  recognition  of  the  importance  of  physical 
training.  It  may  be  true  that  the  leading  purpose  of  the 
public  school  is  intellectual  training.  It  must  be  admitted 
that  the  physical  condition  of  children  depends,  in  part, 
upon  home  surroundings  and  inherited  constitution.  But 
though  teachers  have  no  direct  control  over  pupils  in 
respect  to  diet,  clothing,  exercise,  rest,  sleep,  work,  or 
play,  they  must  not,  on  that  account  shirk  their  appro- 
priate share  of  responsibility  in  relation  to  the  health  and 
physical  development  of  school  children. 

Negative  Duties.  —  There  are  certain  negative  duties 
which  are  self-evident.     Teachers  should  at  least  protect 


their  pupils  against  impure  air,  too  long  confrncmcnt,- 
overwork,  and  the  deadening  effects  of  mental  worry, 
caused  by  severe  competitive  written  examinations.  A 
great  deal  more  than  this  ought  to  be  done  ;  but  in  many 
schools  not  even  this  is  attempted.  Nevertheless  it  is 
the  duty  of  teachers,  whether  in  the  primary,  grammar, 
or  high  school,  whether  in  city  or  country,  to  impress 
upon  pupils,  by  emphatic  iteration,  the  laws  of  health  in 
relation  to  food,  air,  cleanliness,  sleep,  rest,  exercise,  play, 
work,  and  personal  habits  in  general.  President  G.  Stanley 
Hall,  of  Clark  University,  says  in  a  pkper  on  child  study  : ' 

1  The  Forum,  Dec,  1893. 

286 


MODERN  VIEWS  ON  PHYSICAL  CULTURE      287 

"  The  juvenile  world  now  goes  to  school  and  has  its  brain  titil- 
lated and  tattooed,  and  we  have  entirely  forgotten  that  men  have  been 
not  only  good  citizens  but  great,  who  were  in  Idyllic  ignorance  of 
even  the  belauded  invention  of  Cadmus.  Now,  j^  this  tremendous 
school  engine,  in  which  everybody  believes  now  with  a  catholic  con- 
sensus of  belief  perhaps  never  before  attained,  is  in  the  least  degree 
tending  to  deteriorate  rnnnVinH^j2hyt;i.;';^|ly,  jt  jg  \y^c\  Knowledge 
bougHTat  the  expense  of  health,  which  is  wholeness  or  holiness  it- 
self in  its  higher  aspect,  is  not  worth  what  it  costs.  Health  condi- 
tions all  the  highest  joys  of  life,  means  full  maturity,  national  pros- 
perity. May  we  not  reverently  ask.  What  shall  it  profit  a  child  if  he 
gain  the  whole  world  of  knowledge  and  lose  his  health,  or  what  shall 
he  give  in  exchange  for  his  health  ?  That  this  is  coming  to  be  felt 
is  seen  in  the  rapidly  growing  systems  of  school  excursions,  school 
baths,  school  gardens,  school  lunches,  provisions  for  gymnastics  of 
the  various  schools,  medical  inspection,  school  polyclinics,  all  of 
which  have  been  lately  repeatedly  prescribed  and  officially  normalized. 
Not  all,  but  many  of  these,  are  quite  new.  The  assumption  is  that 
all  must  be  judged  from  the  standpoint  of  health,  and  that  an  edu- 
cational system  must  make  children  better,  and  not  worse,  in  health." 

Systematic  Drill.  —  It  is  sometimes  said  that  systematic 
drill  soon  becomes  irksome  to  children  ;  that  boys  dislike 
the  gymnasium,  and  that  girls  find  calisthenics  wearisome  ; 
that  it  is  not  natural  for  children  to  use  wands  and  dumb- 
bells ;  and  that  boys  and  girls  should  be  left  to  follow 
their  own  inclinations  and  impulses  about  exercises  and 
amusement.  Now  school  drill  is  designed  not  to  super- 
sede, but  to  supplement,  the  natural  games  and  plays  of 
children.  In  mental  training,  we  recognize  the  principle 
that  intellectual  development  is  attained  only  by  repeated, 
long-continued,  and  systematic  exercises.  Mental  school 
gymnastics  are  rigidly  enforced  for  many  years.  The 
same  law  holds  true  in  physical  development.  Would  not 
the  physique  of  a  class  of  boys  under  gymnastic  training 
for  ten  years  be  superior  to  that  of  a  class  left  to  run  wild  ? 
And  would  not  their  accumulated   stock  of  trained  mus- 


288  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

cular  power  be  quite  as  serviceable  to  them  through  life 
as  a  great  deal  of  what  is  called  mental  discipline  ?  All 
the  world's  best  workers  know  that  success  depends 
largely  upon  sound  health  and  power  of  endurance. 
Sinewy  frames  as  well  as  trained  minds  are  essential  to 
the  sons  of  workingmen  who  have  to  make  their  own  way 
in  the  world.  For  them  muscular  power  means  food, 
clothing,  and  a  living.  Their  only  capital  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  is  an  elementary  education  and  a  sound 
body.     *'  Health  is  the  first  wealth,"  says  Emerson. 

Practical  Suggestions.  —  In  every  school,  whether  in 
city  or  country,  there  should  be  given  a  daily  drill  of  five 
or  ten  minutes  in  free  gymnastics.  Without  apparatus 
and  without  music,  a  skillful  teacher  can  secure  very  good 
results  from  what  are  termed,  "  free  gymnastics,"  exe- 
cuted by  counting  in  time.  To  these  there  may  be  added 
"  breathing  exercises,"  and  concert  exercises  in  vocal 
culture  or  in  singing.  Both  wands  and  dumb-bells  can 
be  used  in  any  schoolroom.  If  there  is  a  piano  in  the 
schoolroom,  the  light  gymnastic  drill  can  be  made  quite 
varied  and  thorough  with  no  other  appliances. 

Athletics.  —  The  man  who  understands  boys  will  either 
join  with  them,  or  will  encourage  and  direct  them  in 
their  games  of  baseball  and  football ;  in  boating,  swim- 
ming, skating,  coasting,  and  snowballing ;  and  will  take 
an  interest  in  their  games  of  marbles,  in  kite-flying  and 
top-spinning.  On  pleasant  Saturdays,  or  after  school 
in  the  long  summer  days,  he  will  take  his  pupils  on  ex- 
cursions in  the  fields,  woods,  or  hills  after  collections  for 
the  cabinet,  or  to  see  nature,  or  merely  to  have  a  good 
time.  The  woman  who  understands  little  children  will 
invite  them  to  pleasant  walks  with  her  for  the  same 
purpose. 


MODERN  VIEWS  ON  PH 


589 


Games  and  Plays.  —  The  games  of  the  primar)^  children 
must  not  be  forgotten.  By  a  little  attention  to  the  play- 
ground, their  sports  may  be  regulated  and  made  delight- 
ful. Marbles,  tops,  kites,  balls,  and  hoops  are  all  a  part 
of  educational  apparatus.  A  visit  to  a  kindergarten  and 
a  careful  study  of  some  kindergarten  manual  will  be  very 
suggestive  in  the  direction  of  play  and  amusements. 
Teachers  must  study  variety,  for  monotonous  repetition 
soon  becomes  distasteful.  Notice  how  marbles  succeed 
tops,  and  kites  follow  ball,  as  often  as  the  moon  changes. 
The  indirect  lessons  of  the  playground  are  often  more 
valuable  and  more  lasting  than  the  formal  teachings  of 
the  class-room.  For  it  is  in  the  hours  of  play,  when  off 
duty,  that  the  teacher  can  best  win  the  confidence  and 
love  of  children. 

"  From  a  health  point  of  view,"  says  Francis  H.  Tabor,  "  There 
can  be  no  comparison  between  a  good  healthy  game  —  in  which 
every  muscle  is  suitably  exercised,  and  brain  and  lungs  join  in  the 
complete  happiness  of  the  honest  laugh  and  the  careless  shout  —  and 
the  "  dead  alive  "  military  drill,  or  formal  gymnastics,  which,  while 
developing  many  muscles  abnormally,  leave  the  brain  torpid  and  the 
spirit  depressed.  But  the  game  must  be  regulated,  if  its  full  benefits 
are  to  be  reaped.  Unselfishness  must  be  practised  at  every  turn  ;  the 
strong  must  help  the  weak  ;  and  the  weak  must  be  aroused,  that  they 
may  not  be  a  drag  upon  the  strong.  .  .  .  The  code  of  honor  among 
true  sportsmen  is  so  rigid  that  truth  and  fair  dealing  become  as  im- 
portant as  a  well-balanced  bat  or  sound  ball.  Manliness,  energy, 
courage,  endurance,  all  follow,  not  because  they  are  said  to  be  good, 
but  because  they  seem  to  be  good  and  dLxafelt  to  be  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  the  attainment  of  an  object  that  is  all  in  all  to  the  boy."  1 

Manual  Training  as  an  Educational  Factor.  —  The 

recent  introduction   of  manual  training  into  city  schools 
marks  a  very  important  step  in  advance.     The  pioneer 

1  The  Forum,  May,  1899. 
AM.  PUB.  SCH. — 19. 


290 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


schools  of  manual  training  were  founded  and  endowed 
by  wealthy  business  men  who  desired  to  supplement 
the  elementary  education  of  the  public  schools  by  af- 
fording boys  a  technical  training  which  would  enable 
them  to  earn  a  living.  The  success  of  these  schools  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  public  school  officials,  and  ex- 
periments were  made  by  organizing  classes,  first  in  high 
schools  and  afterwards  in  the  higher  grades  of  grammar 
schools. 

Plan. — The  plans,  as  carried  out  in  Boston,  Chicago, 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco,  and  many  other 
cities,  involve  the  introduction  of  woodwork,  cooking,  and 
sewing  in  the  higher  grammar  grades,  two  hours  a  week 
being  given  to  each  subject.  In  1896 manual  training  was 
an  essential  feature  in  the  public  school  course  of  ninety- 
five  cities.  In  the  beginning,  manual  training  was  urged 
mainly  as  a  special  preparation  for  some  industrial  pur- 
suit, but  now  it  is  advocated  as  an  important  factor  in  a 
general  education.  Training  in  the  use  of  tools  in  the 
shops  leads  to  mental  habits  of  careful  attention.  It  leads 
to  interest  in  drawing  and  the  practical  application  of 
arithmetic  and  geometry.  Indeed  it  seems  to  be  doing 
for  the  grammar  and  the  high  school  what  kindergarten 
training  does  for  the  little  children. 

"  The  best  education  has  come  from  contact  with  nature,"  says  Earl 
Barnes.  "  It  is  absurd  to  say  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  uneducated 
because  he  did  not  have  the  advantages  of  the  schools.  He  was 
educated  for  the  work  of  his  life,  even  if  most  of  his  clay  work  was 
done  with  a  hoe,  his  wood  work  with  an  ax,  his  physics  with  a 
crowbar.  A  face-to-face  struggle  with  nature  has  given  the  best  men 
of  the  country  to-day." 

The  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  (1896- 
97)  says :     "  Strong  opposition  was  met   among  school- 


MODERN  VIEWS  ON  PHYSICAL  CULTURE      291 

men  for  a  time,  but  manual  training  has  steadily  grown 
in  popularity,  and,  with  its  growth,  it  has  constantly  im- 
proved in  matter  and  method,  and  consequently  in  use- 
fulness." In  this  Report  the  statistics  and  courses  of  in- 
struction are  given  of  66  manual  and  industrial  training 
schools  and  24  industrial  schools  for  Indian  children. 

On  the  pedagogical  value  of  manual  training  Professor 
William  James,  of  Harvard,  writes  in  a  recent  article  as 
follows :  1 

"  The  most  colossal  improvement  which  recent  years  have  seen  in 
secondary  education  lies  in  the  introduction  of  the  manual  training 
schools  ;  not  because  they  will  give  us  a  people  more  handy  and 
practical  for  domestic  life  and  better  skilled  in  trades,  but  because 
they  will  give  us  citizens  with  an  entirely  different  intellectual  fiber. 
Laboratory  work  and  shop  work  engender  a  habit  of  observation,  a 
knowledge  of  the  difference  between  accuracy  and  vagueness,  and  an 
insight  into  nature's  complexity  and  into  the  inadequacy  of  all  abstract 
verbal  accounts  of  real  phenomena,  which  once  wrought  into  the  mind 
remain  there  as  life-long  possessions.  They  confer  precision;  be- 
cause if  you  are  doing  a  thing,  you  must  do  it  definitely  right  or  de- 
finitely wrong.  .  .  .  They  beget  a  habit  of  self-reliance  ;  they  keep  the 
interest  and  attention  always  cheerfully  engaged,  and  reduce  the 
teacher's  disciplinary  functions  to  a  mininum." 
^  Atlantic  Monthly,  March,  1899. 


CHAPTER  XII 
MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 

While  intellectual  training  is  made,  in  practice,  the  most 
prominent  object  of  the  public  school,  the  importance  of 
moral  training  is  universally  acknowledged.  "  The  vital 
part  of  human  culture,"  says  William  Russell,  **  is  not 
that  which  makes  a  man  what  he  is  intellectually  ;  but 
that  which  makes  him  what  he  is  in  heart,  life,  and  char- 
acter." 

Indirect  Training.  —  Now  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
strict  discipline  of  the  public  school  is  in  itself  a  powerful 
means  of  indirect  moral  training.  Pupils  are  trained  to 
habits  of  order,  silence,  regularity,  punctuality,  industry, 
truthfulness,  obedience,  and  a  regard  for  the  rights  of 
others.  The  influence  of  school,  continued  for  a  series  of 
years,  in  these  respects,  is  very  powerful  in  the  formation 
of  habit  and  character.  But  beyond  these  incidental  and 
indirect  results,  what  is  it  possible  for  the  schools  to  ac- 
complish in  the  way  of  moral  development  ? 

There  are  some  who  believe  that  there  can  be  little  or  no 
moral  culture  unless  it  is  given  in  connection  with  author- 
itative religious  instruction  in  creed  or  catechism.  But 
at  present  in  our  public  schools,  by  law  or  by  custom, 
purely  secular  instruction  is  the  rule ;  religious  exercises, 
other  than  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  are  the  exception. 
In  so  far,  then,  as  moral  training  is  connected  with  relig- 
ious instruction,  the  matter  must  be  left  to  the  home,  the 

Sunday-school,  and  the  church.      What    remains  to  be 

292 


MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 


293 


done  in  the  public  school,  and  how  shall  it  best  be  ac- 
complished ?  While  there  are  many  who  seem  to  think 
that  nothing  whatever  can  be  done,  except  indirectly, 
there  are  others  who  believe  that  much  may  be  accom- 
plished by  direct  training  and  instruction. 

Motive.  —  If  moral  training  consisted  merely  in  telling 
children  what  is  right  or  wrong,  or  in  dealing  out  maxims 
and  proverbs ;  if  it  would  make  children  truthful  and 
honest  to  learn  commandments  by  rote,  —  then  the  teach- 
er's task  would  indeed  be  an  easy  one.  But  moral  culture 
concerns_jhe  feelings^  the  emotions,  jhL£.^adIly>4W-€oa^ . 
science.  Hence  the  successful  teacher  must  be  a  trusted 
friend  and  guide,  not  a  mere  bundle  of  philosophical 
ethics.  The  moral  nature  must  be  called  into  daily  exer- 
cise until  habits  of  right-thinking  result  in  habits  of  right- 
doing.  And  this  process  of  development  is  slow  and  al- 
most imperceptible. 

*'  Whatever  moral  benefit  can  be  effected  by  education," 
says  Herbert  Spencer,  "must  be  effected  by  an  education 
that  is  emotional  rather  than  perceptive.  If,  in  place  of 
making  a  child  understand  that  this  thing  is  right  and  the 
other  wrong,  you  make  it  feel  that  they  are  so ;  if  you 
make  virtue  loved  and  vice  loathed  ;  if  you  arouse  a  noble 
desire  and  make  torpid  an  inferior  one ;  if  you  bring  into 
life  a  previously  dormant  sentiment ;  if  you  cause  a  sym- 
pathetic impulse  to  get  the  better  of  one  that  is  selfish  ; 
if,  in  short,  you  produce  a  state  of  mind  to  which  proper 
behavior  is  natural,  spontaneous,  instinctive  —  you  do 
some  good." 

Methods.  —  Methods  of  conducting  moral  lessons  in 
school  must  be  gathered  up  by  experience  and  observa- 
tion. A  warm  heart,  a  genial  nature,  an  even  temper,  a 
beaming  eye,   a  cheerful    countenance,   a  sincere   voice, 


294  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

an  earnest  manner  —  these  are  the  potential  agencies  by 
which  you  can  win,  direct,  and  control  young  pupils. 
Teachers  should  keep  fresh  in  mind  their  own  feelings, 
passions,  emotions,  impulses,  sympathies,  and  experiences 
when  they  were  children,  and  thus  avoid  the  grievous 
mistake  of  applying  to  school  children  the  moral  philos- 
ophy suited  only  to  adult  metaphysicians.  Children 
should  not  only  be  taught  what  is  right ;  they  must  also 
be  made  to  do  what  is  right.  The  school  is  a  miniature 
world ;  in  one  way  or  another  it  affords  opportunities  for 
the  practice  of  most  of  the  moral  virtues.  Strict  discipline 
trains  pupils  to  habits  of  obedience  and  order,  corrects 
bad  habits,  and  compels  the  lawless  to  respect  the  rights 
of  others ;  but  in  addition  to  this  it  is  possible  for  a 
teacher  to  breathe  into  a  school  a  spirit  of  honor,  truth- 
fulness, and  honesty  which  will  put  down  profanity, 
vulgarity,  slang,  slander,  tattling,  lying,  and  meanness 
generally. 

Stories  and  Books.  —  One  of  the  most  effective  ways 
of  giving  moral  lessons  is  by  reading  or  telling  to  pupils 
stories  or  anecdotes  illustrating  some  virtue  to  which  the 
teacher  desires  to  call  attention ;  such  as  honor,  truthful- 
ness, courage,  or  honesty.  "  Stories  of  great  and  noble 
deeds,"  says  Bain,  "  have  fired  more  youthful  hearts  with 
enthusiasm  than  sermons  have."  If  there  is  a  school 
library,  make  good  use  of  it  by  calling  the  special  atten- 
tion of  pupils  to  the  biographies  and  story  books  that 
you  think  best  fitted  to  become  your  assistants  in  moral 
development.  The  high  ideals  presented  in  good  books 
will  result  in  a  rich  harvest  of  noble  sympathies  and  right 
actions.  Weems'  Life  of  Washington  was  one  of  the  few 
books  that  fell  into  the  hands  of  Abraham  Lincoln  when 
he  was  a  boy  living  in  a  log  cabin ;  who  can  estimate  the 


MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 


295 


high  ideals  which  this  patriotic  book,  in  spite  of  its  exag- 
gerated rhetoric,  suggested  to  this  solitary  boy,  as  he 
pored  over  it  by  the  light  of  the  open  fireplace  ?  Though 
Lincoln  owed  little  to  school  training,  we  cease  to  wonder 
at  his  character-development  when  we  know  that  he  read 
and  re-read,  at  home,  in  early  life,  a  select  library  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  the  Bible,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Plutarch, 
Washington,  spelling  book,  reader,  and  arithmetic,  and  an 
old  volume  of  the  statutes  of  Illinois. 

Dr.  George  H.  Martin,  of  Boston,  in  his  unequaled  ad- 
dress on  "  The  Unseen  Force  in  Character  Making,"  said  :  ^ 
"  Our  boys  and  girls,  all  unknown  to  us,  often  uncon- 
sciously to  themselves,  are  admiring  the  characters  they 
find  in  the  books  they  read,  and  are  fashioning  themselves 
into  the  same  image.  Through  literature  and  history, 
there  is  no  limit  to  the  possibilities  within  the  reach  of 
every  teacher.  Character  in  history,  character  in  liter- 
ature, illuminated  in  the  portrayal  by  the  enthusiastic 
admiration  of  the  teacher,  glows  before  the  student  and' 
kindles  within  him  a  responsive  emotion.  As  the  long 
line  of  men  and  women  who  have  lived,  and  wrought,  and 
suffered  moves  before  him,  he  feels  nobler  impulses  stir- 
ring within  him,  and  sees  himself  living  such  a  life,  and 
with  the  thoughts  and  impulses,  the  work  of  transforma- 
tion begins." 

One  of  the  most  valuable  books  for  use  by  teachers  of 
the  higher  grammar  grades,  or  by  teachers  of  country 
schools,  is  Thayer's  Ethics  of  Success.  It  is  the  special 
excellence  of  this  book  that  the  moral  lessons  are  not 
sermons  or  lectures,  but  inspiring  anecdotes  from  the  lives 
of  successful  men  and  women. 

1  Read  at  Columbus  ;  published  in  i\\t  Jour ?ia I  of  Education,  March 
16,  1899. 


296  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

History. —  By  the  new  school  of  Herbartians,  great 
stress  is  placed  on  history  as  a  means  of  moral  culture. 
The  general  term  history  is  made  to  include,  not  only  the 
formal  text-book  study  of  history,  ancient  and  modern, 
in  the  higher  grades,  but,  also,  fables,  myths,  stories,  tra- 
dition, biography,  and  poetry,  for  children  in  the  lower 
grades. 

In  McMurry's  General  Method,  a  book  based  on  the  principles  of 
Herbart,  the  use  of  history  in  moral  training  is  set  forth  as  follows  : 
"  Although  history  has  many  uses,  its  best  influence  is  in  illustrating 
and  inculcating  moral  ideas.  It  will  strike  most  teachers  with  sur- 
prise to  say  that  the  chief  use  of  history  study  is  to  form  moral  notions 
in  children.  Some  of  the  best  historical  materials  (from  biography, 
tradition  and  fiction)  should  be  absorbed  by  children  in  each  grade 
as  an  essential  part  of  the  substratum  of  moral  ideas.  .  .  .  Examples 
of  moral  action  drawn  from  life  are  the  only  things  that  can  give 
meaning  to  moral  precepts.  Moral  ideas  always  have  a  concrete  basis 
or  origin.  Some  companion  with  whose  feelings  or  actions  you  are 
in  close  personal  contact,  or  some  character  from  history  or  fiction  by 
whose  personality  you  have  been  strongly  attracted,  gives  you  your 
keenest  impressions  of  moral  qualities.  To  begin  with  abstract  moral 
teaching,  or  to  put  faith  in  it,  is  to  misunderstand  children." 

De  Garmo,  in  Essentials  of  Method,  emphasizes  the  uses  of 
history  as  follows  :  "  For  the  reason,  then,  that  we  first  grasp  the 
general  through  the  particular,  all  ethical  instruction  should  proceed 
from  individual  cases  of  action  involving  a  moral  content.  Hence  it 
does  not  suffice  to  preach  in  school,  except  from  the  text  of  an  actual 
event.  Children  can  best  get  the  first  points  of  crystallization  for 
moral  truths  from  stories  involving  a  moral  content.  Here  the  emo- 
tions are  not  unduly  aroused,  as  they  are  likely  to  be  where  the  action 
is  one  that  touches  them  personally,  so  that  the  irrational  nature  of 
wrong  action  appeals  to  the  understanding  as  well  as  to  feeling. 
History  fulfills  its  noblest  mission  to  the  race  on  account  of  its  ethical 
content  and  of  the  individual  nature  of  the  presentation.  Every  deed 
of  heroism,  of  benevolence,  of  charity,  of  patriotism  is  a  concrete  em- 
bodiment of  a  precious  virtue  ;  while  every  mean,  cowardly,  dastardly 
act  is  an  individual  protest  against  meanness,  cowardice,  or  villainy. 


MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS    297 

We  can  only  continue  the  deposit  about  these  starting-points  until  at 
last  the  soul  is  strong  in  itself  to  stand  against  temptation." 

Occasions.  —  Talks  on  morals  should  be  given  at  the 
proper  time  and  in  the  right  way.  The  events  of  a  school 
week  will  often  furnish  practical  illustrations  for  a  short 
but  effective  talk  to  the  pupils  on  manners  or  morals. 
Omit  no  fitting  occasion  to  impress  a  principle  upon  the 
moral  feelings. 

Kindergarten  Training.  —  It  will  be  well  for  all 
thoughtful  teachers  to  consider  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  kindergarten  schools  in  the  way  of  molding 
the  characters  of  little  children,  and  of  reforming  the  waifs 
gathered  in  from  neglected  homes.  The  annual  reports 
of  the  Golden  Gate  Kindergarten  Association  written  by 
the  late  Mrs.  Sarah  B.  Cooper,  the  philanthropist  of  San 
Francisco,  are  filled  with  proofs  of  the  possibilities  of 
moral  training  at  a  very  early  age.  In  one  of  her  reports 
(1891),  she  says  : 

"  During  the  twelve  years  we  have  had  nearly  nine  thousand  chil- 
dren under  our  care  and  training.  The  children  who  were  with  us  in 
the  earliest  years  of  our  work  are  now  from  fifteen  to  eighteen  years  of 
age.  We  have  followed  these  children  as  closely  as  possible  since  they 
left  us,  and  after  the  most  rigid  investigation  we  do  not  find  our  kin- 
dergarten children  among  the  juvenile  offenders.  Their  names  are 
not  to  be  found  upon  the  police  records  ;  and  this,  too,  in  face  of  the 
fact  that  our  kindergartens  are  located  in  the  districts  where  crimi- 
nals are  made.  We  have  perused  every  avenue  of  information,  only 
to  find  one  arrest  for  petty  ofTenses  among  the  8,000  children  that  have 
attended  the  kindergartens  during  the  last  eleven  years — and  as  he 
was  a  feeble-minded  boy,  with  an  inborn  mania  for  setting  fire  to 
things,  we  counted  him  out  entirely.  He  was  deemed  iiresponsible, 
and  placed  in  confinement  to  keep  him  from  mischief." 

A  Teacher^s  Testimony.  —  The  following  letter  was 
written  by  Agnes  M.  Manning,  who  has  been  for  many 


298  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

years  principal  of  one  of  the  largest  primary  schools  of 
San  Francisco,  in  answer  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  from  my- 
self when  City  Superintendent  of  Schools : 

Dear  Sir:  I  wish  to  tell  you  why  I  am  so  strongly  m  favor  of  kin- 
dergartens. My  school  is  in  a  crowded  neighborhood.  I  have  many 
children  from  tenement-houses  and  from  the  narrow  streets  off  Market 
street.  Before  the  days  of  the  kindergarten  these  children  as  soon  as 
they  could  crawl,  spent  their  waking  lives  on  the  sidewalks.  From 
the  age  of  two  to  six  years  they  pursued  the  education  of  the  street. 
The  consequences  were  that  at  six  they  came  to  us  with  a  fund  of  in- 
formation of  the  worst  description,  and  a  vocabulary  that  might  excite 
the  envy  of  the  Barbary  Coast.  At  the  commencement  of  each  new 
year  they  tumbled  over  each  other  in  their  rude  haste  to  take  up  the 
unexplored  life  of  a  school.  They  were  in  tens,  fifties,  hundreds  in 
our  yards.  The  novelty  being  past,  the  hard  struggle  commenced  of 
keeping  them  from  joining  the  army  of  truants,  and  leading  them  into 
habits  of  work  and  cleanliness.  .  .  .  The  kindergartens  have  changed 
all  this.  They  have  taken  the  babies  that  used  to  be  consigned 
to  the  curbstone,  trained  and  guided  them  along  a  path  of  develop- 
ment. They  have  wisely  attempted  no  cramming  of  the  infant^ brain 
with  premature  scholarship.  They  have  surrounded  the  young  lives 
with  a  fresh  atmosphere.  They  have  passed  the  hours  in  pleasant 
games,  taught  a  purer  language,  and  led  the  little  feet  into  a  new  civ- 
ilization. The  children  of  tenement-houses  and  narrow  streets  still 
come  in  tens,  fifties,  and  hundreds  to  begin  life  in  a  new  school  at  the 
beginning  of  each  school  year.  The  little  ones  are  clean,  self-respect- 
ing, eager  for  knowledge.  They  have  opinions  of  their  own  on  many 
things,  and  are  quite  anxious  to  express  them.  They  neither  know 
how  to  read  nor  write.  They  have  been  taught  to  see,  to  observe,  to 
tell  about  what  they  see  and  hear.  They  have  been  taught  to  respect 
older  people,  to  be  honest,  to  tell  the  truth.  It  is  a  rare  thing  now  to 
find  a  child  that  does  not  know  it  is  wrong  to  steal.  If  you  meet  one 
you  may  be  sure  he  has  never  been  in  a  kindergarten." 

Character.  — The  exercise  of  good  principles,  confirmed 
into  habit,  is  the  true  means  of  forming  a  good  character. 
Children  do  not  learn  arithmetic  and  grammar  merely  by 


MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 


299 


repeating  rules  and  fornmulas  ;  neither  will  they  apperceive 
and  assimilate  the  foundation  principles  of  right  and 
wrong  as  rules  of  action  merely  by  the  process  of  repeat- 
ing mottoes  and  maxims.  The  moral  faculties  are  of 
slow  growth ;  they  need  daily  culture  and  exercise  until 
habits  of  right-thinking  and  right-doing  are  formed.  There' 
are  evil  tendencies  in  the  child's  nature  to  be  repressed ; 
there  are  germs  of  good  qualities  to  be  warmed  into  life 
and  quickened  in  their  growth.  Canon  Farrar  says : 
"  Plant  a  fleeting  fancy  and  you  reap  a  thought ;  plant  a 
thought  and  you  reap  an  action  ;  plant  an  action  and  you 
reap  a  habit ;  plant  a  habit  and  you  reap  character ;  plant 
a  character  and  you  reap  a  destiny ^ 

The  practical  teacher  who  has  begun  to  make  a  direct 
study  of  children  at  first  hand  will  find  occasion  to  make 
use  of  the  doctrine  of  interest  and  desire  as  set  forth  by 
the  Herbartian  school  of  thinkers,  as  well  as  the  creed  of 
duty  and  the  will  expounded  by  the  Hegelian  school  of 
philosophers.  In  the  kindergarten  and  the  primary  grades 
children  will  be  won  by  sympathy,  influenced  by  desire,  and 
stimulated  by  interest.  In  succeeding  stages  of  develop- 
ment, as  good  habits  are  strengthened,  and  higher  ideals 
are  created,  character  begins  to  be  formed,  conscience  is 
developed,  and  duty  becomes  more  and  more  a  controlling 
power. 

"  The  development  of  the  character,"  says  Dr.  Jordan,  "  is  the  for- 
mation of  the  ego.  It  is  in  itself  the  co-ordination  of  the  elements  of 
heredity,  the  bringing  into  union  of  warring  tendencies  and  irrelev^ant 
impulses  left  us  by  our  ancestors.  The  child  is  a  mixture  of  imper- 
fectly related  impulses  and  powers.  It  is  a  mosaic  of  ancestral  hered- 
ity. Its  growth  into  personality  is  the  process  of  bringing  these  ele- 
ments into  relation  to  each  other. 

"  Doing  right  becomes  a  habit  if  it  is  pursued  long  enough.  It  be- 
comes a  second  nature  or  a  higher  heredity.    The  formation  of  a 


300 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


higher  heredity  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  of  knowing  right  and  doing  right, 
is  the  basis  of  character-building." 

William  T.  Harris,  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education, 
closed  a  paper,  read  before  the  California  State  Teachers'  Association 
(1896)  with  the  following  summary  : 

"  In  closing,  let  us  call  up  the  main  conclusions  and  repeat  them  in 
their  briefest  expression. 

"  I.  Moral  education  is  a  training  in  habits,  and  not  an  inculcation  of 
mere  theoretical  views. 

"2.  Mechanical  disciplines  are  indispensable  as  an  elementary  basis 
of  moral  character. 

"  3.  The  school  holds  the  pupil  to  a  constant  sense  of  responsibility, 
and  thereby  develops  in  him  a  keen  sense  of  his  transcendental  free- 
dom ;  he  comes  to  realize  that  he  is  not  only  the  author  of  his  deed, 
but  also  accountable  for  his  neglect  to  do  the  reasonable  act. 

"  4.  Lax  discipline  in  a  school  saps  the  moral  character  of  the  pupil. 
It  allows  him  to  work  merely  as  he  pleases,  and  he  will  not  reinforce 
his  feeble  will  by  regularity,  punctuality  and  systematic  industry.  .  .  . 

"  5.  Too  strict  discipline,  on  the  other  hand,  undermines  moral  char- 
acter by  emphasizing  too  much  the  mechanical  duties,  and  especially 
the  phase  of  obedience  to  authority,  and  it  leaves  the  pupil  in  a  state 
of  perennial  minority.  He  does  not  assimilate  the  law  of  duty  and 
make  it  his  own.  The  law  is  not  written  on  his  heart,  but  is  written 
on  lips  only.     He  fears  it  but  does  not  love  it. 

6.  The  best  help  that  one  can  give  his  fellows  is  that  which  enables 
them  to  help  themselves.  The  best  school  is  that  which  makes  the 
pupils  able  to  teach  themselves.  The  best  instruction  in  morality 
makes  the  pupil  a  law  unto  himself.  Hence,  strictness,  which  is  indis- 
pensable, must  be  tempered  by  such  an  administration  as  causes  the 
pupils  to  love  to  obey  the  law  for  law's  sake." 

PRACTICAL  SCHOOLROOM  LESSONS. 

(i)  Beginnings  in  First,  Second,  and  Third  Grades.  — 

Talk  to  pupils  about  kindness  to  animals,  particularly  to 
dogs,  cats,  birds,  and  horses.  Read  extracts  from  *'  Black 
Beauty."  Read  short  stories  that  have  a  moral  wrapped 
up  in  them. 


MODERN  TRAINING  IN  MORALS  AND  MANNERS 


301 


For   Use  by  —  Heart  Culture,  by  Emma  E.  Page  will 

prove  a  valuable  assistant  to  teachers.  The  purpose  of  the  author 
cannot  be  better  expressed  than  by  the  follow^ing  quotations  from  her 
preface  :  "  The  aim  of  this  book  is  to  teach  kindness  to  animals  by 
quickening  sympathy  for  them,  arousing  a  sense  of  justice  toward 
them,  and  instilling  the  fundamental  principles  of  right  care  of  them. 
How  to  care  for  domestic  animals  is  dwelt  upon  with  considerable 
detail,  because  these  things  must  be  taught  in  school  to  get  down  into 
the  family  life  of  all  the  people.  Not  to  know  is  often  as  cruel  as  not 
to  care." 

Fourth  and  Fifth  Grades  —  Topics  for  Short  Talks.  —  Put  everything 
in  its  right  place.  Why  ?  Have  a  regular  time  for  home  study. 
Why  }  Be  punctual  at  school.  Why  ?  Why  is  it  your  duty  to  study 
your  lessons  ?  Kindness  to  children  younger  than  yourself.  Duties 
to  other  pupils.  Duty  to  home  and  parents.  Kindness  to  animals. 
Kindness  to  little  children. 

For  Reference  by  Teachers.  —  Dewey's  Ethics  or  Stories  of  Home 
and  School.     Thayer's  Ethics  of  Success,  Book  I. 

Sixth  and  Seventh  Grades  —  Topics  for  Short  Talks.  —  Topics  may 
be  brought  before  a  class  by  reading  some  anecdote  or  story,  or  by 
means  of  conversation  lessons.  Fighting  and  quarreling.  Calling 
nicknames.  Truthfulness.  Word  of  honor.  Cheating.  Promises. 
Profanity.  Slang.  Cruelty  to  animals.  Courage.  Duties  at  home. 
Duties  in  school.     Duties  to  others. 

For  Reference.  — Thayer's  Ethics  of  Success,  Book  H. 

Topics  for  Eighth  and  Ninth  Grades.  —  Earning  a  living.  The  read- 
ing of  good  books.  Economy.  Patriotism.  Obedience  to  law. 
Duties  of  American  Citizens. 

For  Reference.  —  Thayer's  Ethics  of  Success,  Book  H.  Everett's 
Ethics  for  Young  People. 

HINTS  ON  LESSONS  IN  POLITENESS. 

"  A  beautiful  behavior,"  says  Emerson,  *'  is  the  finest 
of  the  fine  arts.  Give  a  boy  address  and  accomplishments 
and  you  give  him  the  mastery  of  palaces  and  fortunes 
where  he  goes." 

It  is  too  often  assumed  that  children  learn  manners  at 


302  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

home,  or  unconsciously  acquire  a  polite  behavior  from 
their  teachers,  schoolmates,  or  friends.  But  whatever  they 
may  learn  through  unconscious  tuition,  it  is  very  desirable 
that  they  should  receive  ^jierrfir  instruction  in  politeness. 
It  is  said  that  the  winning  manners  of  Henry  Clay  were 
owing  in  no  small  degree  to  the  careful  training  in  man- 
ners given  him  at  an  early  age  in  a  log  schoolhouse  in 
Virginia. 

Topics  for  Short  Talks  in  Second  and  Third  Grades.  —  Politeness  to 
schoolmates.  Politeness  to  teachers.  Manners  at  the  table.  Polite- 
ness to  parents.     Politeness  to  brothers  and  sisters. 

For  Reference.  —  How  to  Teach  Manners  in  the  Schoolroom,  by 
Julia  Dewey. 

Topics  for  Short  Talks  in  the  Fourth  Grade.  —  Manners  at  home ;  at 
school ;  at  places  of  amusement.  Minor  rules  of  politeness  :  (Adapted 
from  Miss  Dewey's  How  to  Teach  Manners  in  School.) 

1.  When  you  pass  directly  in  front  of  any  one  say  "  Excuse  me." 

2.  Never  fail  to  say  "  Thank  you  "  (not  "  Thanks  ")  for  the  smallest 
favors. 

3.  When  a  schoolmate  is  reading,  or  is  answering  a  question,  do  not 
raise  your  hand  to  correct  a  mistake  until  after  he  has  finished. 

4.  Do  not  stare  at  visitors  who  enter  the  schoolroom. 

5.  When  you  stand  to  recite,  stand  erect  like  a  well-bred  gentleman 
or  lady. 

6.  In  handing  a  pointer,  pen,  or  pencil,  hand  the  blunt  end  towards 
the  person  to  whom  you  wish  to  pass  it. 

7.  It  is  impolite  to  chew  gum  or  to  eat  in  school. 

Fifth  Year  or  Grade  — Topics  for  Short  Talks.  — When  you  do  a 
favor,  do  it  cheerfully.  A  cheerful  countenance  is  always  welcome. 
Give  up  your  seat  to  older  people.  Apologize  to  any  one  you  have 
wronged.  Do  not  bluntly  contradict  any  one.  Look  persons  in  the 
eye  when  you  speak  to  them.  Whispering  in  company  is  impolite. 
Avoid  the  use  of  slang  expressions. 

For  Reference.  —  Gow's  Primer  of  Politeness. 

Sixth  to  Eighth  Grades  —  Topics  for  Short  Talks.  —  Rules  of  polite- 
ness in  society.  Politeness  to  strangers.  Politeness  in  traveling. 
How  to  write  notes  of  invitation  and  acceptance  of  invitations.  How 
to  introduce  persons  in  a  proper  manner. 


.   .,_    CHAPTER  XIII 
COMMON-SENSE  APPLIED  TO  RURAL  SCHOOLS 

It  requires  great  tact  ari^  jud^mgjit  to  manage  suc- 
cessfully, a  rural  school  in  which  the  whole  work  is  done 
by  one  teacher.  In  the  graded  schools  of  town  and  city 
the  course  of  instruction  is  definitely  laid  down  in  printed 
manuals  ;  the  work  of  each  successive  grade  is  directed 
by  principal  and  superintendent ;  the  results  are  tested 
by  written  examinations ;  and  each  class  teacher  is  only 
a  cog  in  a  complicated  system  of  wheels.  But  in  the 
country  school  the  teacher  combines  the  function  of  as- 
sistant, principal,  examiner,  and  superintendent.  He  is 
an  autocrat,  limited  only  by  custom,  precedent,  and  text- 
bng][f  s, 

When  we  consider  that  about  one  half  of  the  school 
children  in  our  country  receive  their  elementary  education 
in  rural  schools,  their  importance  as  a  part  of  our  school 
system  is  obvious.  Many  of  these  schools  in  the  sparsely- 
settled  districts  of  some  states  are  kept  open  only  from 
three  to  six  months  in  the  year,  and  even  then  the  at- 
tendance is  irregular.  The  whole  schooling  of  many 
children,  from  the  age  of  five  to  fifteen,  hardly  amounts 
to  five  years  of  unbroken  school  attendance.  For  such 
pupils,  what  instruction  will  best  fit  children  for  their  life 
duties  ?  What  knowledge  is  of  most  worth  to  them  ? 
The  subject  under  consideration  is  so  important  that  it 
seems  to  require  special  treatment  by  itself.  As  an  axiom, 
we  may  safely  take  this  statement  of  John  Stuart  Mill  : 

303 


304 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


"  The  aim  of  all  intellectual  training  for  the  mass  of  the 
people  should  be  to  cultivate  common-sense." 

It  is  of  the  first  importance  that  pupils  should  be  trained 
to  speak,  read,  and  write  the  English  language.  At  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  years  of  age  they  should  be  able  to  read 
readily,  to  keep  their  conversation  free  from  provin- 
cialisms in  pronunciation,  to  write  a  letter  in  a  neat  and 
legible  hand  ;  and  they  should  have  a  taste  for  reading 
good  literature. 

In  arithmetic  they  should  be  trained  to  work  examples 
in  the  "  four  rules  "  ;  to  perform  business  operations  in 
common  and  decimal  fractions  ;  to  reckon  simple  interest ; 
and  to  make  out  a  bill,  a  receipt,  and  a  promissory  note  ; 
and  to  keep  simple  accounts.  Wise  teachers  will  concen- 
trate their  drill  upon  what  the  pupils  most  need. 

In  geography  they  should  acquire  a  general  knowledge 
of  our  own  country  and  of  the  world  as  a  whole ;  but  it 
is  not  necessary  that  they  should  be  compelled,  term  after 
term,  and  year  after  year,  to  memorize  text-books. 
Present  the  subject  in  a  natural  way  according  to  modern 
methods.  Begin  with  a  study  of  local  geography  from 
nature  and  proceed  according  to  the  methods  presented 
in  a  previous  chapter  on  geography  in  graded  scliools. 

The  text-book  study  of  grammar  should  be  preceded 
by  a  course  of  elementary  exercises  in  language  les- 
sons, such  as  are  found  in  the  best  modern  text-books. 
Children  cannot  be  trained  to  speak  or  write  correctly  by 
parsing  according  to  Latinized  formulas.  They  will 
never  learn  to  construct  a  good  sentence  by  analyzing 
complex  or  compound  sentences,  or  by  memorizing  and 
repeating  the  rules  of  syntax,  though  this  method  be 
followed  until  they  grow  gray.  Require,  then,  at  least, 
one  short  composition    exercise  a   week,   upon   subjects 


COMMON-SENSE  APPLIED  TO  RURAL  SCHOOLS 


305 


about  which  the  pupils  have  learned  something.  Let 
them  write  about  farming,  about  animals,  birds,  fishes, 
flowers,  trees.  Read  them  short  stories  to  be  reproduced 
in  writing.  Require  pupils  over  eight  years  of  age  to 
write  at  least  one  short  letter  a  week,  until  they  can  write 
it  in  due  form,  punctuate  it,  capitalize  it,  spell  correctly 
most  of  the  words  they  use  in  it,  fold  it  neatly,  and  direct 
it  properly.  After  this  preliminary  work  is  well  done, 
let  the  older  pupils  study  grammar  from  a  text-book,  by 
taking  up  a  few  essential  points  in  etymology,  by  learn- 
ing to  apply  a  few  important  rules  of  syntax,  by  taking 
a  little  parsing  and  a  minimum  of  plain  sentence  analysis 
without  diagrams,  and  with  as  little  as  possible  of  the 
scholastic  forms  of  logic  in  which  the  subject  is  often 
enveloped. 

Pupils  should  acquire  a  general  knowledge  of  the  lead- 
ing events  in  the  history  of  our  own  country.  Teachers 
should  present  the  subject  by  means  of  oral  lessons, 
which  will  include  stories,  anecdotes,  incidents,  and  well- 
selected  extracts.  Narrative  and  biography  constitute 
the  life  of  history  to  the  young.  A  text-book  may  be 
used  to  supplement  this  work. 

It  will  be  one  of  the  pleasantest  of  duties  to  awaken 
country  children  to  the  beauties  of  nature  by  which  they 
are  surrounded.  It  is  here  that  teachers  may  do  their 
best  work,  by  drawing  out  of  pupils  all  they  know  of  the 
world  around  them,  and  by  encouraging  every  effort  to 
increase  their  knowledge.  Country  boys  and  girls 
generally  have  a  considerable  stock  of  crude  knowledge 
about  animals,  plants,  and  the  phenomena  of  every-day 
life.  Draw  out  these  fragmentary  stores  of  facts,  and 
supplement  them  by  the  facts  of  science.  Set  the  girls 
to  collecting  and  pressing  plants  and  flowers.  Let' the 
AM.  PUB.  scH. — 20 


3o6  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

boys  bring  in  specimens  of  minerals,  shells,  woods,  and 
grains  for  a  school  cabinet.  Open  their  eyes  to  the  beauty 
of  the  world  in  which  they  live. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Twelve  on  Rural  Schools 
(1897),  Wilbur  S.  Jackman,  of  the  Chicago  Normal  School,  in  a  special 
paper  on  a  course  of  study  for  rural  schools,  makes  the  following  sug- 
gestions about  nature  study  : 

"  In  the  earlier  years,  especially,  great  attention  should  be  given  to 
the  picturesqueness  and  natural  beauty  of  the  surroundings.  Without 
trained  and  careful  effort  in  this  direction,  the  intensely  practical  char- 
acter of  their  contact  with  the  various  things  about  them  will  close  the 
eyes  of  the  children  to  many  beautiful  things  that  should  be  a  source 
of  joy  and  pleasure  throughout  life.  Much  out-door  study  should, 
therefore,  be  encouraged.  The  children  should  be  familiar  with  every 
brook  and  waterfall ;  with  every  cliff,  wooded  copse,  and  ravine." 

From  personal  experience  I  deeply  realize  the  force  of 
Mr.  Jackman's  suggestions.  In  my  boyhood  I  attended 
a  village  school  in  one  of  the  mountain  towns  of  New 
Hampshire.  From  the  schoolhouse  door  we  could  see, 
not  two  miles  distant,  a  granite  mountain  which  rose  to 
the  height  of  more  than  a  thousand  feet.  Away  in  the 
distant  western  horizon  Mt.  Kearsarge  rose  still  higher. 
At  our  feet,  not  a  stone's-throw  from  the  schoolhouse, 
there  flowed  the  winding  Suncook  River,  an  important 
tributary  of  the  Merrimac.  But  nature  study  was  un- 
heard of  when  we  boys  went  to  school.  None  of  us  ever 
connected  the  mountains  that  we  read  about  in  the  geog- 
raphy with  the  real  mountains  right  before  our  eyes. 
We  failed  to  assimilate  the  rivers  traced  in  spider  lines  on 
the  atlas  with  the  clear-running  stream  in  which  we  went 
a-swimming  every  day  in  the  hot  summer  time.  We 
boys  never  once  thought  of  climbing  to  the  summit  of 
the  mountain  near  by,  though  we  could  have  reached  it 
by   a   two   hours'  walk.     No  one  of  our  teachers  ever 


COMMON-SENSE  APPLIED  TO  RURAL  SCHOOLS  307 

thought  of  suggesting  to  us  that  it  would  be  a  good  geog-/ 
raphy  lesson  to  find  out  what  we  could  see  from  that!^ 
familiar  mountain  top.  We  were  blind  as  bats  to  the 
beautiful  panorama  of  nature  spread  out  everywhere 
around  us.  No  teacher  ever  once  in  all  our  lives  called 
our  attention  to  the  mountain,  or  the  river,  or  the  ponds, 
or  the  farms,  or  the  woods,  or  the  beauty  of  the  landscape. 
It  was  only  after  an  absence  of  many  years  in  California, 
that  my  eyes  were  opened  to  the  wondrous  summer  beauty 
of  my  native  town,  a  landscape  of  hill  and  mountain,  farm 
and  forest,  unequaled  by  anything  that  I  had  seen  in  my 
distant  wanderings.  Then  I  climbed  to  the  top  of  Cata- 
mount and  looked  out  on  the  scenery  that  tourists  travel 
hundreds  of  miles  to  behold.  I  brought  away  with  me, 
as  a  special  treasure,  a  piece  of  quartz  delicately  grooved 
and  polished  by  the  great  glacial  ice-mass  that  once  moved 
over  New  England  and  sculptured  the  rough  outlines  of 
the  varied  landscape  spread  out  in  all  its  wondrous  summer 
beauty. 

In  the  appendix  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Twelve  there 
is  a  paper  on  "  The  Farm  as  the  Center  of  Interest,"  by  Col.  Francis 
W.  Parker,  of  the  Chicago  Normal  School,  which  so  graphically  and 
truthfully  sets  forth  the  field  for  nature  study  in  the  country  school 
that  it  cannot  fail  to  prove  an  inspiration  to  all  who  read  it.  Among 
other  things  he  says :  "  Nowhere  on  earth  has  a  child  such  advantages 
for  elementary-  education  as  upon  a  good  farm,  where  he  is  trained  to 
love  work  and  to  put  his  brains  into  work.  The  statement  of  what  a 
farm  does  for  a  boy  in  its  general  lines  may  easily  be  taken  from  the 
experience  of  a  farm  boy  in  New  England,  for  instance.  It  is  possible 
for  me  to  give  the  story- of  such  a  one  from  actual  experience  —  what 
he  learned,  what  he  studied,  and  what  he  acquired.  As  soon  as  he 
found  himself  upon  the  farm,  at  eight  years  of  age,  he  began  to  study 
—  to  study  in  the  best  sense  of  that  much-abused  word.  He  began 
the  study  of  geography  —  real  geography.  He  observed  with  ever- 
increasing  interest  the  hills,  valleys,  springs,  swamps,  and  brooks  upon 


3o8  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

the  old  farm.  The  topography  of  the  land  was  clear  and  distinct ;  its 
divisions  into  fields,  pastures,  and  forests  were  to  him  the  commonest 
facts  of  experience.  ...  He  studies  botany.  All  the  kinds  of  grasses 
he  knew  —  timothy,  clover,  red  top,  silver  grass,  pigeon  grass  ;  how 
they  were  sown,  how  they  came  up,  grew,  were  cut,  cured,  and  fed  to 
the  cattle  ;  what  kind  of  hay  was  best  for  sheep ;  and  what  for  oxen. 
...  He  knew  the  trees,  the  maple  w4th  its  sweet  burden  of  spring, 
the  hemlock,  and  the  straight  pine  which  he  used  to  climb  for  crows' 
nests.  He  knew  the  wild  animals,  the  squirrels,  the  rabbits,  the  wood- 
chucks  ;  the  insects,  the  grasshoppers,  and  ants  ;  bugs  that  scurried 
away  when  he  lifted  a  stone.  With  the  birds  he  was  intimately 
acquainted. 

"  He  obsen'ed,  investigated,  and  drew  inferences,  perfectly  uncon- 
scious, to  be  sure,  of  what  he  was  learning,  or  how  he  was  learning ; 
but  still,  he  learned,  and  he  studied,  and  the  best  lesson  of  all  was  his 
personal  reaction  upon  his  environment.  His  plowing,  hoeing,  haying, 
digging,  chopping,  lumbering,  his  mending  of  sleds,  and  making  of 
cider,  sugar,  lye,  and  soap  were  all  so  many  practical  lessons  in  life 
which  exercised  his  body,  stimulated  his  mind,  and  strengthened  and 
developed  his  purpose  in  life.  He  lived  to  become  a  school  teacher, 
and  taught  school  earnestly  and  bunglingly  for  twenty  years  before  he 
had  even  a  suspicion  of  the  value  of  his  farm  life  and  farm  work." 

It  is  not  necessary  that  you  should  teach  ethics  as  a 
science.  What  pupils  most  need  is  that  plain  preceptive 
morality  which  is  diffused  among  the  people  as  their  daily 
rule  of  action.  Your  work  here  must  be  an  outgrowth  of 
your  own  life  and  character,  observation  and  experience, 
combined  with  the  best  thoughts  you  can  glean  from 
books  and  society. 

It  is  desirable  that  pupils  should  know  something  about 
the  laws  of  health  in  relation  to  diet,  sleep,  air,  exercise, 
work,  play,  and  rest.  Teach  the  plain  truth  that  sickness 
is  the  penalty  of  violated  laws  ;  that  bad  habits  are  physical 
sins  ;  that  poor  health,  unless  hereditary,  is  the  result  of 
carelessness  or  ignorance.  These  things  can  be  taught 
either  with  or  without  a  text-book. 


COMMON-SENSE  APPLIED  TO  RURAL  SCHOOLS 


309 


Teach  drawing  in  a  natural  way"  by  giving  pupils  a  few 
hints,  and  then  setting  them  at  work  in  trying  to  draw 
from  real  objects,  such  as  leaves,  fruits,  flowers,  animals, 
birds,  ships,  boats,  houses,  and  easy  landscapes.  There 
is  a  fine  opportunity  in  the  country  school  for  allowing 
pupils  to  follow  their  individual  bent.  Allow  a  reason- 
able time  for  singing,  recitals,  dialogues,  the  reading  of 
compositions,  and  other  incidental  exercises. 

The  arrangement  and  length  of  recitations  are  matters 
of  judgment  to  be  modified  according  to  conditions. 
When  one  class  is  reciting,  set  the  others  about  some 
specific  piece  of  work  at  their  desks.  The  few  advanced 
pupils  ought  not  to  monopolize  your  attention.  Assign 
older  pupils  lessons  to  be  learned  at  home  ;  for  children 
who  attend  a  school  only  a  part  of  the  year  cannot  easily 
be  overtaxed  with  brain  work.  Train  them  to  depend 
upon  themselves,  and  to  find  out  things  by  hard  thinking. 
In  recitations,  explanations  and  illustrations  must  be  con- 
densed, for  time  is  limited. 

If  there  is  a  school  library,  make  good  use  of  it  by 
recommending  suitable  books  for  pupils  to  read  at  home. 
Many  a  dull  boy,  lazy  and  listless  over  his  lessons,  has 
been  made  alive  by  books  suited  to  his  age  and  capacity. 

If  you  have  tact,  good-nature,  and  firmness,  and  know 
how  to  interest  children  in  their  work,  you  need  not  have 
much  trouble  about  order,  discipline,  or  government. 
Win  the  good  will  of  the  older  pupils,  and  they  will  be- 
come your  assistants  in  school  government. 

On  the  morning  of  the  first  day,  that  crucial  test  of  a 
teacher,  introduce  yourself  by  a  few  cheerful  remarks, 
distribute  slips  of  paper  on  which  pupils  are  to  write  their 
names,  age,  class  or  grade,  and  studies  ;  and,  having  col- 
lected these,  proceed  at  once  to  business  by  giving  out  a 


310  APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 

sheet  of  paper  to  all  who  can  use  a  pen,  and  require  them 
to  write  a  composition  about  their'^st  vacation.  This 
will  keep  them  at  work  an  hour  at  least,  during  which 
time  you  can  attend  to  the  little  ones,  and  make  out  your 
rough  program.  The  art  of  the  first  day  is  to  keep  pupils 
busy.  You  will  avoid  much  mischief  by  getting  every- 
body hard  at  work  in  ten  minutes  after  school  opens.  If 
you  know  how  to  tell  a  good  story,  close  school  with  one  ; 
if  not,  read  one  from  some  book. 

The  true  economy  of  teaching  in  an  ungraded  school  is 
to  make  the  fewest  possible  number  of  classes,  and  to 
consider  both  age  and  capacity  in  making  the  classifica- 
tion. If  the  school  is  a  large  one,  do  not  attempt  to  hear 
daily  recitations  in  everything,  but  alternate  the  studies 
of  the  more  advanced  pupils.  Economize  time  and  in- 
struction by  means  of  as  many  general  exercises  as  possi- 
ble, in  which  all  except  the  youngest  pupils  can  join;  such 
as  drill  exercises  in  the  four  rules  of  arithmetic,  mental 
arithmetic  exercises,  the  spelling  of  common  words,  short 
compositions,  review  questions  on  the  leading  facts  of 
geography  and  history.  Take  an  hour,  weekly,  for  select 
readings,  recitals,  dialogues,  and  lessons  on  morals  and 
manners. 

Occasionally  give  written  examinations.  In  most  city 
schools,  written  examinations  are  carried  to  extremes; 
but  in  most  country  schools  there  is  not  enough  of  writ- 
ten work  to  give  readiness  and  exactness  in  the  written 
expression  of  thought. 

For  a  young  teacher,  whether  man  or  woman,  there  is 
no  better  school  of  practice  than  a  country  school.  Nor 
should  the  educational  advantages  of  the  rural  school  for 
pupils  be  underrated.  In  the  long  race  of  life,  boys  edu- 
cated  in  such  schools   often  come   out    ahead   of   those 


COMMON-SENSE  APPLIED  TO  RURAL  SCHOOLS  311 

ground  out  by  the  graded  machinery  of  city  schools. 
During  a  part  of  the  year  country  boys  work  on  the  farm, 
and  get,  not  only  muscular  strength,  but  also  a  habit  of 
work.  They  go  back  to  school  with  a  keen  relish  for 
study,  and  a  habit  of  steady  application.  Hard  work  on 
his  father's  farm,  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  hoeing  corn,  or 
haying,  or  digging  potatoes,  has  made  school-life  seem  a 
play  spell  to  many  a  boy,  and  has  laid  the  foundation  of 
steady  habits  that  have  led  to  success  in  life.  The 
trouble  with  many  city  boys  is  that  they  have  no  work  to 
do  out  of  school,  and  never  learn  what  hard  labor  means 
until  school-life  is  over.  Herein  lies  the  great  advantage 
of  the  country  school ;  both  boys  and  girls  have  a  com- 
bination of  mental  and  manual'  TraiiTing;^"'  TTie~lnorn- 
ing  and  evening  ''chores"  on  the  farm,  and  in  the  house- 
hold, prevent  undue  mental  application.  Pupils  are  not 
surfeited  with  school  and  books  ;  school,  indeed,  is  a  ; 
relief  from  hard  labor.  Many  a  man  has  reason  to  be 
thankful  that  he  was  trained  to  habits  of  farm  work  in  his 
boyhood,  and  was  sent  to  a  country  school,  where  he  was 
not  crammed  to  repletion,  nor  worried  with  credits,  nor 
made  wretched  with  competitive  written  examinations. 
In  this  connection,  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  the  following 
extract  from  the  concluding  paragraph  of  Col.  Parker's 
paper  in  the  appendix  to  the  Report  of  the  Committee 
of  Twelve :  ^ 

*'  No  method,  no  system  of  schools,  no  enrichment  of^ 
courses  of  study,  not  even  the  most  successful  of  teachers, 
can  ever  take  the  place  in  fundamental  education  of  the 
farm  and  the  workshop.  No  matter  how  good  the  city 
schools  may  be,  or  may  be  made ;  no  matter  how  good 
the  state  of  society  may  be,  the  vital  reinforcements  of 
city  life  that  lead  to  progress  and  prosperity,  so  far  as  we 


312 


APPLIED  PEDAGOGICS 


can  see,  must  always  come  from  the  sturdy  stock  of  the 
farm.  This  fact,  upon  which  most  educators  agree,  puts 
upon  the  country  school  an  immense  responsibility. 
When  skill,  expertness,  and  insight  control  the  methods 
of  country  schools ;  when  excellent  teachers  remain  in 
the  same  schools  year  after  year,  the  already  powerful 
influence  of  country  life  upon  the  destinies  of  the  nation 
will  be  mightily  enhanced." 

Finally,  perhaps  the  greatest  service  I  can  render  student- 
teachers  who  are  looking  forward  to  a  country  school,  is  to 
call  special  attention  to  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of 
Twelve  on  Rural  Schools.  This  report  of  227  pages  is  one 
of  the  most  notable  educational  documents  ever  published 
in  this  country.  In  it  the  young  student  of  pedagogics 
will  find  a  detailed  course  of  study,  a  report  on  Instruc- 
tion and  Discipline ;  a  report  on  program  ;  an  enrich- 
ment of  Rural  School  Courses ;  a  Course  of  Study  for 
Rural  Schools,  by  Wilbur  S.  Jackman  ;  the  Farm  as  a 
Center  of  Interest,  by  Colonel  Parker  ;  the  Country 
School  Problem,  by  Dr.  Emerson  E.  White. 


INDEX. 


Academies,  Age  of,  64 ;  endowed  academies,  65  ;  Phillips-Andover 
Academy,  'j'j  ;  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  64,  j^j. 

Agricultural  Colleges,  85-90;  Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  55. 

Alaska,  Schools  in,  iii. 

American  Institute  of  Instruction,  78. 

Animal  Life,  Study  of,  281,  282. 

Appleton's  Readers,  140. 

Arithmetic,  Methods  and  text-books  in,  141-146,  191-194,  240-258, 
304;  Colburn's  Intellectual  Arithmetic,  122. 

Armstrong,  S.  C,  and  the  Hampton  Institute,  99. 

Athletics,  288. 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  quoted,  280. 

Baldwin's  Readers,  141,  208,  215. 

Baltimore,  Schools  of,  59,  116. 

Barnard,  Henry,  71. 

Barnes,  Earl,  121,  184,  290. 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  62. 

Berkeley,  Governor,  of  Virginia,  29. 

Bible,  The,  135,  292,  295. 

Bookkeeping,  253. 

Books  for  children,  160-163,  215,  261,  263,  284,  294, 

Books  for  school  libraries,  263,  264,  265,  285,  301,  309. 

Books  for  teachers,   158-160,  170,  200-205,  263,270,  285,  312.     See 

Text-books. 
Boston,  Schools  in,  8,  12,  47,  56,  74,   1 11,  130. 
Branches  of  Instruction,  11 8-1 20. 
Brown's  (Gould)  Grammars,  150. 

Calhoun,  J,  C,  62, 

California,  Education  in,  loi-iio;  high  schools,  82. 

Chicago,  Schools  in,  1 1 5. 


314                                          INDEX  H 

Child  Study,  183. 

Children,  Books  for,  160-163,  215,  261,  263,  284,  294 

Chinese  Classics,  134  j 

Civil  War,  The,  71 ;  public  schools  after  the,  93-117.  j 

Class-room  management.  Suggestions  on,  179-187.  \ 

Clay,  Henry,  63.  a 

Clinton,  George,  50.  ^ 

Colburn's  Arithmetic,  145.  | 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  52.  I 

College  of  William  and  Mary,  29,  58.  \ 

Colleges,  Colonial,  80.    See  ^/z/'t/<?/'j///Vj  /  agricultural  colleges,  85-90;  \ 

Agricultural  College  of  Pennsylvania,  55.  ■ 

Colonial  Schools,  7,  36,  118,   141  ;  colonial  newspapers,  162;  school  • 

laws,  22,  23,  26,  29.    See  Legislation, 

Colored  Schools,  97,  98,  99.  \ 

Columbia  University,  25,  83.  '  j 

Composition-writing,  'j'j,  lyj.  \ 

Connecticut,  Early  schools  in,  49.  1 

Conservatism  and  Progress,  127.  \ 

Copy  Books,  119,  218.     See  Writing.  \ 

Cornell  University,  83,  86.  i 

Correlation  in  Reading  Lessons,  217.  \ 

Country  Schools,  303-312.     See  Rural  Schools.  1 
Courses  of  Study,  in  high  schools,  76. 

Credits  and  checks,  188.  1 

Curry,  J.  L.  M.,  quoted,  94,  96.  i 

Dame  Schools,  20.  j 

Dedham,  Mass.,  Early  Schools  in,  10.  \ 

Defining,  224.  \ 

De  Garmo,  Charles,  quoted,  128,  239,  267,  271,  275,  296.  I 

Development  Method,  195-198.  1 

Dewey,  John,  quoted,  213,  214,  221.  \ 

Discipline,  120,  175,  177.     See  Management  in  School  Government  1 
District  Schools,  66,  122.     See  Rural  Schools. 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  Early  Schools  in,  10.  I 
Drawing,  Methods  of  Teaching,  119,  225-228,  309. 
Dummer  Academy,  65. 
Dutch  Colonial  Schools,  24,  51. 


INDEX  315 

Dwight's  Geography,  154. 

Early  American  schools,  34-72,  118. 

Eaton,  John,  quoted,  94. 

Economy,  True,  in  educational  affairs,  168. 

Elective  Courses  of  Study,  58,  83,  127. 

Eliot,  Charles  W.,  quoted,  84,  182,  186,  213,  257,  277,  284. 

Emerson,  George  B.,  74. 

Endowed  State  Universities,  80. 

"English  Reader,"  Murray's,  139. 

Enrollment   in   public  schools  of  the  United   States,    164;  in   high 

schools,  75 ;  in  normal  schools,  79. 
Examinations,  186,  276,  310. 

Farm,  The,  as  a  center  of  interest,  307 ;  education  of  farmer's  chil- 
dren, 66.  * 
Federal  Aid  for  higher  education,  89. 
First  day  of  school.  The,  174,  309. 
Fractions,  Teaching,  191,  242,  247.     ^t.^  Arithmetic. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  28,  68. 
Freedman's  Bureau,  The,  94. 
Friends'  schools,  28,  61. 
Froebel,  and  the  kindergarten,  125. 

Games  and  plays,  289. 

Geography,  Early  text-books  in,  153-158;  methods  of  teaching,  269- 
277,  283,  304;  Redway  andHinman's  geographies,  158,  271,  285. 
Georgia,  Early  schools  in,  60. 
Girard  College,  57. 

Girls,  Education  of,  21,  60,  74;  first  academy  for,  65. 
Grammar  schools.  Early  colonial,  8,  10. 

Grammar,  Text-books  and  methods  in,  138,  146-153,  194-196,  304. 
Grant,  U.  S.,  72. 
Greeley,  Horace,  d'j. 
Grube  Method  in  arithmetic,  240. 
Guyot's  Geography,  158. 
Gymnastics,  287. 

Hadley,  Mass.,  Early  schools  in,  21. 
Hall,  G.  Stanley,  quoted,  178,  286. 


3i6                                           INDEX  '       \ 

Hall,  Samuel  R.,  77.  '-* 

Hampton,  Va.,  Normal  Institute,  99.  * 

Hanus,  Paul  H..  quoted,  76,  123,  252.  ] 
Harris,  W.  T.,  quoted,  61,  70,  90,  112,  213,  300. 

Harrison,  William  Henry,  40,  63.  1 

Han-ard  University,  8,  83.  \ 

Herbart  Society,  The,  and  Herbartian  methods,  115,  221,  227,  296.  \ 

Higher  Public  Education,  73-92 ;  in  the  South,  98-100.  i 

Historical  Records  of  Common  Schools,  18.  '^ 

History,  Text-books  and  methods  259-268;   in  rural  schools,  304.  ■ 

Home  education,  66.  J 

Hornbook,  The,  130,  131.  ■ 

Imperfections  in  school  system,  167.  \ 

Improvements,  Modem,  in  methods,  of  instruction,  124,,  166.  ] 

Industrial  education,  85-90.  \ 

Instruction,  Branches  and  methods  of,  118,  124.     See  Methods.  \ 

Inventions,  Early,  and  their  influence  on  education,  35.  \ 

JACKMAN,  Wilbur  S.,  quoted,  284,  306.  j 
Jackson,  Andrew,  62. 

James,  William,  quoted,  196,  291.  \ 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  30,  36,  58,  63.  j 

Johnson,  Richard  Malcolm,  60.  A 

Jordan,  David  Starr,  quoted,  92,  299.  ; 

! 

Kephart,  Horace,  quoted,  32,  53.  ! 

Kindergartens,  125,  297.  \ 

Kirkham's  Grammar,  1 50.  \ 

Lancastrian  schools  in  colonial  times,  52,  55,  59. 

Land  Grants,  85 ;    Land  Reservations  for  Schools,  37,  39,  80.  . 

Language  lessons,  1 52,  232-236.     See  Grammar.  '•■ 
Legislation.  School,  in  the  colonies,  22  ;  in  Ohio,  43  ;  in  Massachusetts, 

44;  in   New   York,   46,    50,    113;    in   Connecticut,   50;  in  New         '. 

Jersey,  53  ;  in  Pennsylvania,  53  ;  in  Virginia,  58  ;  in  South  Caro-        j. 

lina,  59;  in  North  Carolina,  61  ;  in  California,  102,  104,  107.  f(^ 
Letter-writing,  233. 

Libraries,  School,  Books  for,  263,  264,  265,  285,  301,  309.  i 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  63,  71,  86,  294.  i 


INDEX  317              i 

Literature  in  connection  with  American  history,  266.  ; 

Lul<ens,  H.  T.,  quoted,  221,  227.  \ 

Lyon,  Mary,  65,  68.  % 

Lyte's  Grammars,  239.  ] 

McAllister,  James,  57.  \ 

McGuffey's  Readers,  140.  i 

McMurry,  C.  A.,  quoted,  183,  195,  198,  296.                                 -  % 

Management   in  School  Government,   120,    173-178,    309;   in  class-  \ 

room,  179-187  ;  in  rural  schools.  303-312.  \ 

Manhattan,  Schools  in,  23,  51,  56,  113.  \ 

Mann,  Horace,  70,  74.  j 

Manners  and  morals,  292-302.  J 

Manual  Training,  289.  ■              \ 

Map  drawing,"  272.  \ 

Marietta,  Ohio,  43.  "* 

Martin,  G.  H.,  quoted,  65,  71,  79,  141,  295.  \ 

Massachusetts,  Schools  in,  8,  23,  45,  46,  73,  75,  112.  i 

Mayo,  A.  D.,  quoted,  60,  93,  97,  165.  \ 

Methods  and  text-books  :  Reading,   130-141,207-212;  spelling,  135-              j 

137,207,210,  222-225;  writing,   119,   206,218;  arithmetic,  141-               < 

146,  191-194,  240-258  ;  grammar,  138, 146-153,  194-196,  230-239  ; 

geography,  153-158,   269-277,   283;    drawing,   225-228;    music,  i 

228;  history,  259-268  ;  general  methods,  180-184,  188-191.  \ 

Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  91.  \ 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  quoted,  184,  304.  ; 

Morals  and  manners,  292-302. 

Morse's  Geography,  1 54- 1 57.  '1 

Mount  Holyoke  Seminary,  65.  \ 

Mountain  States,  Education  in  the,  1 10.  1 

Muir,  John,  121.  "j 

Murray,  Lindley,  139,  146.  1 

Music,  Vocal,  228,  > 

Mythology,  Excess  of  in  lower  grades,  214.  "^ 

\ 

National  Schools,  90  ;  a  national  university,  91.  \ 

Natural  Geographies,  The,  by  Redway  and  Hinman,  158,  285.  \ 

Natural  methods  in  teaching  geography,   269-277.  ^ 

Nature  Studies,  278-285,  305. 


3i8                                          INDEX  i 

Naval  Academy  at  Annapolis,  91.  \ 

Negroes,  Education  of,  96-100.  \ 
New  England,  Education  in,  7-23,  44,  64,   1 1 1  ;  colonial  school  laws 

in,  22  ;  normal  schools  in,  78. 

New  Jersey,  Early  schools  in,  53.  i 

Newspapers,  Colonial,  162.  ^ 

New  York,  College  of  the  City  of,  52.  \ 

New  York,  Schools  in,   23,46,  49,  56,71,   111-114;  normal  schools  \ 

in,  77.  1 

Normal  Schools,  77-80,  83,  108 ;  public  normal  schools,  78  ;  statistics  \ 

of,  79 ;  private  normal  schools,  80  ;  state  normal  schools  in  Cali-  j 

fornia,  108.  ) 

North  Carolina,  Schools  of,  60.  \ 

North  Central  States,  Education  in,  114-116.  \ 

Northwest  Territory,  37;  ordinance  of  1787,  38;  land  system,  39;  ! 

schools  in,  43,  71,  80,  114. 

Ohio,  First  permanent  settlement  in,  42  ;  early  schools  in,  43.  ii 

Ordinance  of  1787,  for  Northwest  Territory,  38.  \ 

Oregon,  Schools  in,  1 10.  J 

Outlook,  Educational,  164-170.  -^ 

Pacific  States,  Education  in,  loi-iii  ;  state  legislation  in  California,  \ 

102,  104,  105  ;  school  beginnings,  102 ;  parochial  schools  in  San  ] 

Francisco,  105 ;  normal  schools,   108  ;  state  publication  of  text-  ] 

books,  109;  the  mountain  states,  no.  1 

Parish  schools,  27,  49.  '; 

Parker,  Francis  W.,  quoted,  230,  245,  251,  277,  307,  311.  ' { 

Peabody,  George,  94  ;  Peabody  Educational  Fund,  95.  \ 

Pedagogics,  Apphed,  204;  books  on,  158-160,  170,  200-205.  1 

Pedagogy,  Departments  of,  in   state  universities,  83.     See  Normal  \ 

Schools.                                                                 .  : 

Penn,  William,  26. 

Pennsylvania,  Schools  in,  26,  46,  53,  iii. 

Periodicals,  Educational,  78.  M^ 

Philadelphia,  Schools  in,  55,  57,  113. 

Phillips-Andover  Academy,  64,  77  ;  Phillips-Exeter  Academy,  64.  | 

Physical  Culture,  Modern  Views  on,  286-291.  ^ 

Physical  Geography,  283.  y 


INDEX  319 

Physics,  283. 

Physiology  and  Hygiene,  282. 

Pike's  Arithmetic,  142-145. 

Plants,  Studies  of,  280,  281,  282. 

Plymouth  Colony,  Schools  in,  7,  17,  18,  22. 

Politeness,  Lessons  in,  301. 

Practical  value  of  common  schools,  67. 

"Primer,  The  New  England,"  62,  131-134. 

Princeton,  University  of,  53. 

Program,  187,  310.  / 

Promotions,  185,  276. 

Psychology,  202;  psychological  principles,  221. 

Public  School  Society,  The,  52. 

Punishments  in  school  government,  120,  161,  177. 

Puritans,  Schools  and  educational  ideas  of  the,  8,  30. 

Quakers,  Schools  and  education  among  the,  26,  28,  61. 
Question  and  Answer,  180. 

Reading,  Methods  and  text-books  in,  130-141,  207,  208-212,215- 
217,  304. 

Reading  and  Study,  Professional,  158-160,  199-205,  312. 

Recitations,  121,  180,  188-198,  309. 

Records,  Historical,  of  common  schools,  18;  of  grammar  schools,  10. 

Reform,  Educational,  256. 

Revolutionary  War,  Effects  of,  on  Education,  31,  34. 

Rural  Schools  in  colonial  times,  15  ;  in  the  South,  61  ;  in  New  Eng- 
land, 15,  66;  common-sense  applied  to,  303-312. 

St.  Louis,  Schools  in,  115,  126. 

Salaries,  Teachers',  120. 

Salem,  Mass.,  Early  schools  in,  13,  21. 

San  Francisco,  History  of  schools  in  102-105,  124. 

Schlee,  E.,  quoted,  190. 

School  committee,  11. 

"School  Keeping,  Lectures  on,"  Hall's,  fj. 

Science,  Natural,  and  geography,  276. 

Scotch-Irish,  The,  in  America,  27,  33,  50,  58,  59,  61. 

Secondary  and  higher  public  education,  73-92, 

Sherman,  Roger,  68. 

Slater  Fund,  The  John  F.,  96. 


320 


INDEX 


South  Carolina,  Schools  in,  59. 

Southern  States,  Education  in,  58,  93-101,  116. 

Spelling  Books,  118,  135-137. 

Spelling,  Methods  of  teaching,  135-137,  207,  210,  304. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  quoted.  293. 

State  control  of  schools,  37  ;  state  public  universities,  80 ;  state  normal 

schools,  79 ;  state  agricultural  colleges,  86. 
Stevens,  Thaddeus,  54. 

Study,  Courses  of,  118-120,  123-129;  habits  of,  181-183,  310. 
Supplementary  Reading,  208,  212,  215,  261,  263,  264,  266,  284. 
Swinton's  Readers,  141  ;  Grammar  and  Language  Lessons,  153. 

Tabor,  F.  H.,  quoted,  289. 

Taxation  for  Support  of  Schools  :  In  the  South,  100  ;  in  California,  107. 

Text-books,  State  publication  of,  109;  studies  on,   130-163;  use  ot, 

189-197.     See  Methods  and  Text-books, 
Tompkins,  Arnold,  quoted,  181,  187. 
Township,  Congressional,  Division  of,  40. 
Training  Schools,  'j'],  81.     See  Not'inal  Schools, 
Tuskegee,  Normal  Institute,  99. 

Ungraded  schools,  303-312. 
Universities,  State,  80-85,  ^o^- 
University,  A  National,  91;   California,  82,  I08 ;  Columbia,  25,  83; 

Cornell,  83,  86 ;  Harvard,  8,  83  ;  Michigan,  82 ;  Princeton,  33  ; 

Purdue,  87  ;  Texas,  82  ;  Yale,  83. 

Virginia,  Schools  in,  29,  58. 

Vocal  music  as  a  means  of  culture,  228. 

Washington,  Booker,  T.,  100. 

Washington,  D.  C,  Schools  in,  116. 

Washington,  George,  29.  30,  63,  92. 

Webster,  Daniel,  68. 

Webster,  Noah,  118,  135,  137,  140,  148. 

West  Point,  Military  Academy,  91. 

White,  E.  E.,  quoted,  186. 

Willard,  Emma  H.,  65. 

William  and  Mary,  College  of,  29,  58. 

Willson's  Readers,  140.  ^=' 

Writing,  206,  218.     See  Co1)y  Books, 
Yale  University ,><C^  «  a  «  y 

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